


Magically Spirited

by TheGlassFloor



Series: Marvin McMagicspell [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Friendship, Gen, High School, Non-Graphic Violence, Suburban Gothic, Teenagers, magical powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:13:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 31,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26925673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGlassFloor/pseuds/TheGlassFloor
Summary: Marissa is up to no good, and it will take all of the Magic Makers' powers to fend off an incoming evil.Meanwhile at school, Marvin's rivalry with Dante motivates him to take some unprecedented risks with his magic...
Series: Marvin McMagicspell [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1962031





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the 3rd and final installment in the series of YA modern fantasy books I wrote years ago, about teenagers in high school with magical powers. I did some slight editing this time--mostly grammatical improvements--but left the story intact. I recommend reading the [the 2nd book](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26180485/chapters/63707029) before this one, and [the 1st book](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28080732/chapters/68798649) can be saved for last (you've probably had all this explained to you already).
> 
> And so, without further ado...
> 
> MARVIN McMAGICSPELL #3
> 
> MAGICALLY SPIRITED

Marvin McMagicspell. Strange name, isn't it?

That's not the name you'll find on his birth certificate. If you looked at it, you'd see the name Marvin Michael Mannix, and a date fifteen years ago.

The reason for this is that when Marvin's parents, Margo and Martin Mannix named him, they didn't know his last name was supposed to be McMagicspell. They didn't know _their_ last name was supposed to be McMagicspell. They had never even heard of the name McMagicspell.

The only people who know about McMagicspell are Marvin and four other magically empowered teenagers who attend Falstaff Academy in the city of Baltimore, Maryland.

Five Magic Makers, as they call themselves, and someone else by the name of Abey. So six people know. The rest of the world doesn't.

The entire Magic Makers legacy began after Marvin's grandfather, Mark Mannix, died of supposedly natural causes. Marvin and his parents moved out of their home in Fredericksburg, Virginia and into Mark's big house, which he'd left them in his will.

It was in the attic of that big house that Marvin discovered the secrets of McMagicspell. A family, his family, which had existed for centuries, performing good magic to defend the human race from evil.

It was there that he found the _McMagicspell Book of Phenomena_ , which contained every family spell ever written. Also in the attic were dozens and dozens of ingredients on the shelves of the attic's walls. Ingredients that went with the spells in the book, and that were kept in jars, bottles, and other containers.

Of all the things that were in the attic, definitely the best thing of all was the special silver box. For inside of it there had been five necklaces--magic necklaces. Five skinny gold chains with little McMagicspell M's attached to them.

These necklaces were very powerful. They contained magical powers that no other mortal human had ever possessed, as far as anyone knows. And when Marvin put one on, he discovered just how great its magic was.

He then gave the other four necklaces to his friends from school: Courtney, Annette, Kirk, and José, thus forming the Magic Makers team.

Each one of their necklace powers is a different one. Annette has the power to levitate: to literally become weightless and float in midair.

Courtney's power is to become invisible. Kirk's is to freeze time. The whole world actually stops at his command.

José has the ability to sublime: an intriguing power that involves changing into a vaporlike form which can then allow him to move through solid matter. _Through it._ As if it weren't there. Ponder that for a while.

And Marvin, he has the power of psychokinesis, or PK. It's one power, but it can be used two different ways. One way to use it is the regular way, with his eyes. By focusing his eyes on an object, he can make it move, even lift it up and hold it in the air. Just as long as it isn't too heavy.

The other way is less precise, yet quicker and more forceful, and propelled through his hands. This other form of PK is known as energetic thrust.

Those are their powers. They have to use them for more than just fun and games, though. The Magic Makers have reason to believe, you see, that there is an evil force lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right time to emerge.

Evil creatures from other dimensions have arrived. And the only ones who can stop them, or even know about them are Marvin and his friends.

Still, for now anyway, the magically empowered teens of Falstaff Academy were just going to act like regular kids.

It was one of those days. A school day. Marvin, as well as all of the other two hundred and fifty students in the freshman through senior classes at Falstaff Academy were assembled in the school auditorium. Mr. Jeffreys, one of the teachers, stood up on the stage and spoke into the microphone to the students.

"It's the day you've all been waiting for," Mr. Jeffreys said. "It's The Best of the Best Awards day, when we award our citizens of Falstaff who stand out among everyone else.”

The entire assembly applauded. Marvin squirmed in his seat. He was sure he wouldn't get an award, but he was anxious to find out who _would_.

School contests like this had always used to bug him, because they forced him to watch other people being given special things while he didn't get anything at all. He decided this time to take it in stride, though, and just be happy for whoever did win.

Marvin looked around. Something seemed weird. The auditorium looked different. It didn't look much like the Falstaff Auditorium he was used to. It reminded him more of the auditorium at Fredericksburg High School where he had used to go. Examining further, he noticed that some of the students sitting in the auditorium seats were not from Falstaff, but from Fredericksburg. What were they doing here?

And Mr. Jeffreys. For some reason...for some weird reason, he looked like he was wearing a toupee. But no, that was silly, Mr. Jeffreys wasn't even thirty years old yet, and definitely wasn't bald.

Still, for some awkward reason, he looked like he had a toupee on. He was also dressed differently than he usually dressed. Normally Mr. Jeffreys wore semi-cool clothes, but now he had on the type of clothes a middle-aged to old person might wear.

Reflecting back, it reminded him of Mr Weaver, a teacher from Fredericksburg, who wore a toupee and the most awful of tacky clothes, often with a pocket protector. Incredibly, Mr. Jeffreys' voice even sounded a bit like Mr Weaver's.

Trying to ignore all of this, Marvin listened to Mr. Jeffreys. He said:

"We have five awards in all. And after much deliberation by our judges, we have come up with a winner for each of them. The first of our five is for the most athletic. And the winner is...Kirk Hunter!”

Marvin smiled and clapped extra loud. Kirk was his best buddy, and, he thought, definitely deserved to win the most athletic title.

Marvin watched as Kirk got up from his seat, walked up to the stage, and took the trophy that was presented to him. Holding it up and showing it to everybody, he smiled and returned to his seat.

"The second award goes to the prettiest girl. And she is...Annette Hunter!"

Marvin clapped again, proud as ever. Annette was indeed very pretty. She was short, but one quickly overlooked this, since Annette had the most beautiful blond hair, and eyes as deep blue as the ocean.

As Annette stepped forward to claim her prize, Marvin was wowed. Two Magic Makers had already won awards. What if all five won?

Yeah, right. Like that was gonna happen.

"The third award goes to the biggest clown. And the winner is...Courtney Mancina!"

Marvin couldn't believe it! Well, actually, he could. Courtney was, without a doubt, the biggest clown in the whole school. We're talking the type of girl who takes advantage of every opportunity that comes along to not be serious. But for _three_ of his friends to win? Something was fishy here.

"Our fourth prize is for the most popular. And we all know who that is.”

Marvin groaned. _Please don’t say Dante,_ he thought.

"José Alvarado!”

Marvin heaved a sigh of relief. He applauded again as José went up to collect his award.

"And now the final prize," Mr. Jeffreys said. "You're not gonna want this one, but hey, somebody has to have it."

For some eerie reason, Mr. Jeffreys seemed to be speaking directly to Marvin.

“It is for the biggest loser."

"You're right, I don't want it," Marvin seemed to say out loud. He searched through the heads of the seated students in the large room, wondering who might get this one. "Probably Lindsey Sheldon,” he said. "Everybody knows what a loser he is."

“No, not Sheldon,” Mr. Jeffreys said. "You."

Marvin's eyes widened.

"That's right, you, Marvin. Marvin Mannix."

Everyone in the auditorium pointed fingers at Marvin and laughed.

"What? No!"

Marvin buried his face in his hands. How could this be?

A blond, spiky-haired boy with glasses showed up at Marvin's seat. Sheldon.

"Come on, Marvin!" he said amidst everyone's laughter, taking him by the arm and dragging him forward. "You have to come collect your prize!”

Once they'd reached the front, Mr Jeffreys handed the trophy to Marvin. It had "Falstaff's Biggest Loser" engraved on it and displayed a miniature bronze statue of a dork, complete with suspenders, highwater pants, and penny loafers.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!” Marvin bellowed.

Suddenly, he was no longer in the auditorium, but in his bedroom, lying under the covers of his bed and wearing pajamas. The newly risen sun shone softly in through the window.

Marvin sat up. “It was just a dream," he said, placing his hand on his forehead.

He looked at the clock on the wall. He had twenty minutes to get ready for school.

"Man," he said as he climbed out of bed. "I think Fredericksburg messed me up psychologically."

Marvin went through the normal weekday morning routine of readying himself. After he had eaten breakfast, he grabbed his backpack and retreated out the front door and onto the porch. Not much time had passed by before a familiar car showed up along the curbside in front of his house. It was Kirk's car. He ran to it.

"Morning, Courtney," he said as he climbed into the car. "Morning, Annette. Morning, Kirk." One by one they all said good morning back.

"Hey, Marvin," Courtney said playfully to him as he shut the door, "have any more prophetic dreams lately?”

Marvin chuckled. "I sure hope not.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Did you make the dishes wash themselves? Or make the sofa grow wings? Can you make Mrs. Butterworth talk?" Courtney teased further as Kirk drove them all towards school.

Marvin shook his head. "Sorry, Courtney. The  _ Book of Phenomena _ doesn't have spells for stuff like that. At least I don't think it does.”

"There wouldn't happen to be a ‘Make Courtney Shut Up Spell’, would there?” Kirk asked. "Because if there is, we could really use it right now." He looked at Courtney in the rear-view mirror and grinned.

“Bite me,” Courtney said.

"Bite yourself," he shot back, his smile growing wider.

"Freeze me,” Courtney replied.

"Oh, I would if I could.”

In case you haven't noticed yet, Courtney and Kirk tease each other often. They always smile at each other when they're done, though, so spectators like Annette and Marvin will know they don't mean it.

Kirk and Annette are brother and sister. They had always gotten to school in Kirk's car before; that is, ever since he'd gotten his license. Marvin, Courtney, and José, however, had always had their parents take them. But then the Magic Makers arranged a carpool, with Kirk as the driver, and all of the parents found the arrangement quite satisfying.

“How much of the  _ Book of Phenomena _ have you read, Marvin?" Annette asked.

"Some," he answered.

"I'm surprised you haven't read the whole thing,” Kirk said, keeping his eyes on the road.

"The thing's like four inches thick, Kirk,” Marvin told him "It would take a long time to read it from cover to cover. Besides, it would be like reading a dictionary. It's a reference book. A reference book for magic spells.”

Soon they were close to school. Kirk tuned the car onto a road a couple of blocks away from it. A Hispanic boy of medium height with black spiked hair and braces on his teeth was waiting out in front of one of the fine looking houses on that road. The stopping car caught his eye and he ran to it.

"Hi José," Kirk, Annette and Courtney said as he got in. He said hi back.

"Hey," Marvin said softly as José shut the car door.

José looked him in the eye and softly replied, "Hey, Marvin."

The other three Magic Makers rolled their eyes quietly. See, José was the most recently added Magic Maker and he and Marvin were at a point where they were still getting used to each other. It wasn't that they didn't like each other, because they really did. It was just that the two of them are such radically different people that it still didn't seem quite right that they should hang out together. They also were both pestered by a relentless fear that the other did not like him, even though they both were completely wrong.

"So, Kirk,” José began, "how were the basketball tryouts last night?"

Kirk turned the car around and drove back onto the main road towards school.

“Not too bad. How's Mystilogical coming along?”

Mystilogical is the name of José’s garage band. José sings and plays guitar, with Jason Calvin as the bassist and sophomore Dante Desooto as the drummer.

"It's going good. We're working on a couple o’ new songs right now that Jason helped me write. They've got that....that, I don’t know,  _ zest _ , I guess, that he always seems to bring to our music. I think we got carried away, though. We might need to slow down the tempo on the last one we practiced. It goes a little too fast.”

"For who?” Kirk wondered.

“For me! I’m the one doing the singing, and ‘Logic Cannot Deny’--that's the title--it has so many words crammed into it that it has my lips running a hundred miles an hour.”

"Hey, be sure to remember us all when you guys are famous, okay, José?” Courtney said with a wink.

Jose smiled. "You bet." Speaking to Kirk once again, he asked: "Did a lot of guys show up at the tryouts?"

"Oh, yeah. Twenty-four, myself included. Coach Nick and Coach Rudy were really pushing us. Only ten guys can be on Varsity, and they have to be the best. Junior Varsity won't take much more than that, either.”

"Think you'll make Varsity this year?"

Kirk chuckled. "I doubt it."

"Hey," Marvin chimed in, "weren't you voted the MVP on JV last year?"

"Yeah," Kirk said, "I was.”

“So what makes you think you can't make it to Varsity this year? After all, you are a sophomore now.”

"Well, we'll all find out today, won't we?"

"Speaking of tryouts," said Annette, "I can hardly wait for cheerleading tryouts tomorrow.”

Marvin frowned, confused. "I heard about those, but I don't understand. Cheerleading has been going on for some time now, hasn't it?”

“Yeah, the first tryouts were at the beginning of the year,” Annette stated. “Of course, that was back when the sport being played was volleyball, and nobody really wanted to cheer for that. But now basketball season is on the way and the second quarter cheerleading tryouts are about to take place. There's going to be a lot more applicants this time, including myself.”

"That's too bad,” Marvin said.

Annette looked offended.

“I meant about nobody wanting to cheer for volleyball,” he quickly added. “I like volleyball.”

At last they reached their destination: Falstaff Academy. Kirk drove into the parking lot.

“Too bad you didn’t come to Falstaff in time,” Kirk said. “You could have joined the volleyball team.”

“Ha ha, good one, Kirk. Me on a sports team? I don’t think so. It’s never happened and it never will. I’m no good at sports.”

Kirk would have said something contrary to that, but he’d already parked the car in a space and turned off the engine.

The Magic Makers all took hold of their backpacks and exited the car. Splitting apart, they marched towards Falstaff’s front doors to begin another day of school.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess the character of Sheldon was basically invented to make Marvin seem like less of a loser in comparison. And Marvin is, I'll admit, pretty whiny and annoying at times. I own up to that, I do.
> 
> As for Kirk's sexist attitude, and Marvin agreeing with him...all I can say is that they're young and stupid, it was a different time, yada yada yada...

The bell rang. Marvin slammed his locker door shut and proceeded to Mr. Donaldson's classroom for first period Algebra. Courtney and Annette were also in first period Algebra.

Marvin stepped into the classroom and sat down at his seat next to theirs. Soon class began.

"Before any of you start on your assignment today," Mr Donaldson announced from his desk at the front of the room, "I've got new seating arrangements.”

The entire class bubbled with anticipation, wondering where their next assigned seating arrangement would place them.

Holding up a piece of paper on which a preset seating arrangement was inscribed, Mr. Donaldson said, "I'll point to every seat in the room beginning with the farthest row on the right and say your names one at a time. Once you've heard your name, remember which seat I pointed to and when I'm finished you all may switch. Now, beginning with the front seat and going back: Rachel, Janice, Bryant…”

He went on like this, saying a student's name with every seat he pointed to. Courtney and Annette were given seats two rows away from each other. The teacher had purposely separated them. Marvin was assigned to the third seat in the first row from the one farthest to the left. Mr. Donaldson put Sheldon right next to him.

"Hiya, Marvin!" Sheldon said once they'd both sat down in their new seats. He put up his hand for a high five.

Marvin felt gracious that day, so he unenthusiastically gave it to him.

"Say," Sheldon said, "do you have a hot sister, Marvin?"

"What?"

"Bring me a picture of her so I can see what she looks like."

"I'm an only child, Sheldon. Besides, even if I did have a sister, I wouldn't give _you_ a picture of her.”

“Why not? You think I wouldn't be worthy? Marvin, you do not know the effect that Sheldon has had on the ladies."

Marvin shook his head. He thought of saying, _Man, you need new glasses if_ that's _what you think of yourself._ But instead he just said, "You are so weird."

"Takes one to know one," Sheldon said, ever maintaining his idiot grin.

"Oh, look over there!” Marvin said, pointing out the window.

Like a yutz, Sheldon actually turned and looked, and when he did, Marvin squinted his eyes and aimed his psychokinetic powers at the books on Sheldon's desk. A moment later, they slid off of it and hit the floor.

As Sheldon bent over to pick them up, Marvin smiled to himself and faced the front.

Sheldon was one of the first kids that ever talked to Marvin when he first came to Falstaff and from the very beginning, he was weird. I suppose every school has its own moron, and Sheldon is definitely Falstaff's. He is a little weird looking, having short little blond spikes for hair and wearing glasses, but that's beside the point. It's what's inside that matters.

Lindsey Sheldon, sad as it is, is a dork inside and out. I'm sure someday he'll mature and people will start to like him more, but for now he rather deserves to be mocked.

Now, this is not to say that Marvin himself is a complete Adonis, because if that were so, obtaining a social status at Fredericksburg High wouldn't have been so difficult and unsuccessful. But he definitely has a warmth to him, like a shy, soft-spoken cousin you see at Thanksgiving. His hair and eyes are both a woodsy brown, and he is tall. Perhaps he's even a bit lanky.

It's what's inside that counts. Marvin's kindly, becoming personality is what made a few of Falstaff's noble souls find themselves drawn to him. It wasn't the magic that made Kirk, Courtney, Annette, and José want to be his friends. They liked him before they knew about any of those things. Best of all, for once Marvin felt as though he had been given a chance, something that he had always somehow been denied at the bigger schools he'd gone to.

Not everyone who knows Marvin has taken to him, though, particularly the sophomore prig mentioned earlier named Dante Desoto. Dante is known to basically every student at Falstaff as the most popular guy in the sophomore class. He has the awesome position of being Mystilogical's drummer. In fact, Dante is José’s cousin. Things must run in the family, because José himself is the most popular guy in the _freshman_ class.

José is definitely a very intriguing person. To Marvin, and everyone else as well. But he's also quite humble. The popularity he's received mainly stems from his reputation of being rich, cultivated by his cousin's similar situation. And being the head of a punk band doesn't hurt either.

But José never asked to be the most popular guy in the freshman class. Popularity was never important to him, and it still isn't. Dante, on the other hand, thrives on it. He loves being the most popular sophomore, and he would do anything, diss anybody, just as long as he got to keep that position.

Anyhow, Marvin was able to endure Algebra class with his annoying neighbor for forty-five minutes. At last the bell rang, and Marvin was one of the first to grab his backpack and dash out of the room to the school quad outside.

Marvin reached a set of lockers against a wall a short distance away and opened up the one that was his. After putting his Algebra book back inside and taking out the book for second period computer class, he slammed it shut and turned to walk to the classroom it was taught in. As he turned, he saw Kirk standing there before him with a giddy smile on his face.

"What's up?" Marvin inquired.

"Guess what?" Kirk said in an excitable manner.

Marvin laughed softly. "My brain's all but used up on a quiz we just had on linear equations. You'll have to tell me.”

"I just saw the sheet with the results from last night. It was taped to one of the gym doors."

“And?”

“I made Varsity!” he said, smiling big.

Marvin's eyebrows shot up "You did? All right! That is awesome! See? I told you you could do it. I'd hug you, but we're at school."

"Thanks for believing in me, Marvin, even when I doubted myself. You're a real pal. Man, I still can hardly believe it. I'm in Varsity! Only the best athletes get to be in Varsity. It's just me and nine other guys. What an incredible privilege! I mean, just think how-- ...Marvin? Are you listening to me?"

Marvin had only half heard everything he'd said after "I doubted myself.” Marvin wasn't looking at Kirk, but at something beyond him, far away. Or Rather some _one_.

Kirk turned his head and looked. "Okay," Kirk said, folding his arms, “which one are you staring at? The freshman girl with the drawn-on eyebrows? Or the black junior girl with the weave?"

"Neither," Marvin said. He pointed. "Her."

Kirk looked again. "The pint-sized senior with the platforms?"

"No, her," Marvin said, growing frustrated. "That one, right there.”

Kirk looked a third time. Halfway across the quad stood a short Asian girl, getting a book out of her own locker.

"That one?

"Yes.”

"Clair?"

"Yes.”

Kirk and Marvin's eyes met again. "Hmmmmm." Kirk said, nodding with approval. "Freshman Clair Kosinaya. Very interesting choice."

Marvin smiled. "Ever since I first saw Clair on my first day at Falstaff, I've thought, ‘I have to be with her’.”

"Wow,” Kirk said, quite pleased. "Marvin's got a crush."

He blushed. "Don't tell anyone.”

Kirk waved his hand dismissively. "Of course not."

"Not even your sister. Or José. And especially not Courtney.”

"Oh, no," Kirk said. "Definitely not Courtney."

"It's nothing against her, it's just I don't think I really want to hear ‘K-I-S-S-I-N-G' being chanted. And you know I will. I mean, this is hardly a joke. I've never felt so drawn to a girl before. I've liked girls before, or at least I thought I did, but nothing ever happened. But this time, I want something to happen. I've wanted it for weeks."

"You're wrong, it is something against Courtney. Anyway, why don't you just go talk to her?”

Are you kidding?" Marvin replied. "And embarrass myself out of my mind? Uh-uh. Not today. I'm not ready yet. I'll probably break the ice...when I'm a junior." Marvin shut his eyes and whimpered. "That's so long from now."

Kirk put his hand on Marvin's shoulder. "Take it from me, Marvin. If you really think you like a girl, you've got three choices. One, you can take a chance and hope for the best. Two, you can just go on liking her but not act on it, thus continuing your aching and longing. Or three, you can just forget about girls and take up a hobby, like collecting Maryland quarters.”

"I get the picture.”

“Just think how fortunate we are to be guys. It's the guy that has to make the first move, do the asking out and everything, not the girl. That’s what I think, anyway. If it were the other way around, you'd have to wait for Clair to ask _you_ out. And of course, to get her to do that, you'd have to do the flirting and everything and wear the skimpy clothing.” Kirk shuddered. "I'm so glad there's a natural order to things like this.”

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Marvin concluded.

“Of course I am. Now, just walk right up to her and say, ‘Hi’. You can do it. I believe in you.” Kirk spread his arms wide, shut his eyes, and tilted his head back. “I believe!” he said melodramatically.

Marvin laughed. “Okay, I’ll do it. But first…”

“But first what?”

“But first, I think we had better get to class.”

Kirk looked around. The two of them had been talking for over a minute. The quad was almost empty now, and the tardy bell would ring any second.

“Oh, right,” Kirk said. “Of course.”

Marvin and Kirk separated and went to their classes.


	4. Chapter 4

"Okay," Marvin muttered, reassuring himself. "I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna go talk to Clair.”

Second period had gone by, as had the rest of the school day. Clair was once again at her locker getting out the books to take home to do her homework with. Marvin stood at a distance.

"Here goes. Everything will be different after this," he said hopefully. Then he began to walk towards her.

Fifty feet and he'd be there, standing before her, saying hello. Forty feet. Thirty feet. Twenty feet.

At ten feet, he stopped. Was he close enough?

Marvin opened up his mouth and softly said, "Hi Clair."

Clair turned and looked in a different direction. She smiled. "Hi, Dante."

_What?_ Marvin thought.

He looked, and there, coming from the other direction, was Dante Desoto. "Hi, Clair," he said.

Dante came close to Clair and they hugged each other.

Marvin's jaw dropped. No! It couldn't be! Dante and Clair were friends?

Embarrassed and angry, he turned around quickly and walked away, leaving the two of them there talking to each other.

_How can this be?_ Marvin desperately wanted to know. _Dante and Clair, friends with each other? That better be all they are. Why on earth would she like_ him _? Why does_ he _like_ her _? Can’t he pick some other girl? Man, I have the worst luck in the world._

Marvin went and sat alone on a bench at the front of the school and huffed.

He wasn't alone for very long. Soon Annette came out of the front doors carrying her violin. She wore a giddy smile on her face similar to the one her brother had had earlier that day. Marvin hardly noticed her as she sat down next to him.

“Thinking about something?" she said.

Marvin looked her in the eyes, stone-faced. "Huh? Oh. No, nothing. Where'd you just come from?”

"Strings. Mrs. Holliday let everybody out early."

Noticing her smile, Marvin said, "Don't tell me you made Varsity too."

She giggled. “No.”

"What's up, then?"

"Jennifer Zane showed me the list of all the girls who want to try out for cheerleading tomorrow.”

"And?”

"Courtney is one of them."

Marvin smiled. "Courtney? Really? Wow. That's good to know. You didn't know about this before?”

"Uh-uh. She didn't tell me.”

Just then, Courtney and Kirk appeared through the front doors, carrying their instruments from Band: Courtney with her saxophone, and Kirk with his trumpet. José emerged a moment later. The three of them came over to Marvin and Annette at the bench.

“You little Dickens," Annette said to Courtney, "why didn't you tell me you were trying out for cheerleading?"

"Who are you calling little? I'm way bigger than you.”

"Yes, we know," Kirk commented.

Courtney blinked a couple of times fast. "I meant bigger as in taller."

“Well, that's cool," Annette went on. "You and me on the team together? It’ll be lots of fun.”

“You're assuming I'm going to make it.”

"Of course you'll make it. Why wouldn't you?"

Courtney blushed. “Because I'm too tall, that's why. I'm a little clumsy too, and my hips are kinda big.”

"Don't you mean your butt is kinda big?” Kirk mocked.

Courtney put up her fist. "How would you like me to make your lip kinda big?"

“Behave, children,” Marvin said condescendingly. José smiled.

Courtney sat down on the bench beside her best friend. "Besides, I've never been on a cheerleading team before, so I’ve got a lot to learn. And it's not like I have the kind of magic powers that would make one an expert in this field.” She gave Annette a sideways look.

Everyone looked at her. "What are you talking about?" José asked.

"Think about it," she answered. "The jumps, the flips, the cartwheels. Annette--or should I say Weightless Woman--has the perfect power to get those things done.”

Annette made a face. "Yeah, right, Courtney. I'm not going to use my powers for that. I'd rather leave it up to my real talent.”

Courtney shrugged. "Fine, fine. Whatever you say." Then she said, "Liar," but muffled it with a fake sneeze.

"Bless you," said Kirk.

"Hey," José said. "You should try out for girls' basketball, Annette. You could slam dunk!”

"Hey, yeah," Kirk agreed. "I can't even do that. What do you say, Weightless Woman?"

Annette looked at her watch. "I say we should go now.” Then she put her hand on her forehead, as if she was just remembering something. "Oh my gosh. Kirk? Can you do me a favor? I need to have the right gym shoes for tomorrow's tryouts and the ones I have suck. Can you take me to Shoe City to get a pair?"

“Can’t you just ask Mom to take you?” he suggested.

“But I don’t know when Mom’s going to be home.”

“Oh, come on. It’s not like she’s going to be out until eleven or anything like that.”

“Uh-oh,” Courtney said in a mock whisper that was loud enough for everyone to hear. “They’re bickering.”

“We are not,” Annette snapped. “Okay, fine. I’ll ask Mom. But you know, I was going to get something nice for you too, but on second thought…”

“Sure you were.” Kirk turned and headed to the car. “Come on, let’s go.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t help noticing how the first four paragraphs of this chapter seem really out of place--just a random information dump without so much as a segue for anything that follows, other than the word “Anyhow” at the beginning of the fifth paragraph. Like I couldn’t figure out where else to provide the reader with these details so I just shoehorned them in here.
> 
> Well, whatever.

Marvin had lived a life where he was constantly misunderstood by the people he went to school with. It was that way in elementary school, and it became even worse, come junior high.

When high school came around, worse became worst. Fredericksburg High was the place where Marvin immediately became the figure of ridicule. From the very first day of his freshman year there, he never seemed to stop getting picked on.

Luckily, his legacy there didn't last very long. When his grandpa died, he immediately left Fredericksburg, and Virginia altogether.

Since then, his life at Falstaff in Baltimore appears to be a bit more comfortable. He has friends, something he hasn't really had in years. And he has magic at his reach, something he hasn't ever had before.

Anyhow, one by one, the Magic Makers' rides showed up and each of them went home to enjoy their evening. Kirk and Annette went home in Kirk's car.

When they'd arrived at their one-story house, they found it empty. But an hour and a half later, their mom, Grace Hunter came through the front door of the house.

Annette came running. "Mom, Mom, Mom! We have to go to Shoe City right now!"

"Whoa! Slow down, Annette. What's this all about?"

"Mom. Cheerleading tryouts are tomorrow. I have got to get a new pair of shoes."

"And you want to go to Shoe City?"

"Yes."

"The one that's over by Staples?"

"Yes."

"What about Lady Foot Locker at the mall?”

"Oh, Mom, they don't have the kind I want."

"Oh, so there's a certain _kind_ that you want, huh?" said Kirk, who'd just entered the room with a can of Pepsi in his hand.

"All right," Mrs. Hunter said, "we can go."

"Thanks, Mom, you're the best."

"Don't mention it. The supermarket is close to that area, and I need to go grocery shopping anyway. I want to have dinner ready before your dad gets home. But I have to stop at the bank first to get some cash. Then we'll go to Shoe City.”

"I want to come too," Kirk requested.

Annette put her hands on her hips. "Oh, I see how it is. You won't give me a ride but you'll go if Mom takes us."

"I need to conserve gas, girl. Besides, there's a video store over there. I think I might buy a video.”

"Come on, kids," Mrs. Hunter said, walking back out the door.

Annette, Kirk, and their mom got in the car and drove to the bank.

"Do you want to come in with me, kids?" Mrs. Hunter asked as she parked the car in the bank's parking lot. "Or you can stay in the car if you like."

"I'll come in," said Annette, wanting to keep her mom company.

“I'll stay in the car," Kirk replied. "I want to listen to the radio.”

"All right. We'll be back in a few minutes, then.”

Annette went inside of the bank with her mom and the two of them got in line together. It was near closing time, so the lines for the tellers were a bit long.

Annette looked around the bank. It was just an ordinary bank, like any other. There were counters with tellers, computers on desks, and lots of people bustling in to make their deposits and withdrawals and cash their paychecks before the bank closed for the night.

But of all the people in the bank, one particular customer caught her eye.

She was a woman, waiting in a different line across the way. She wore a long black dress with black shoes and dark stockings. Her face was shrouded immensely by a big, dark veil, which dropped down from her head underneath a hat. She looked like she'd come from a funeral.

Annette and her mom reached the end of the line. Mrs. Hunter began to speak to the teller there, informing her of how much money she wished to withdraw.

Meanwhile, the woman over in the other line reached the end of the line as well. As she did, Annette had a very intense feeling that she knew this woman from somewhere.

Then, the woman in the black dress and veil pulled out a gun and pointed it at the teller. "I want money! NOW" she demanded.

Everyone in the bank gasped, then froze. Annette's heart skipped a beat. She couldn't see the woman's face. But she'd heard the voice. And she knew it was a voice she had heard before. She'd heard it when she and her friends were nearly cursed to a dark, prisonlike dimension by this woman. And then she 'd heard it again, when the same woman stabbed Man with a guising dagger outside of his house.

There was only one voice in the world that sounded that evil.

The voice of Marissa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so funny story... When I originally wrote this book, I typed it up on an old (and I mean OLD) classic Apple Macintosh computer that my sister bought used for like, 20 bucks, and printed it out on a dot matrix printer, which is the physical copy I still have today.
> 
> In 2020, I used Google Lens on my phone to capture this printed text and copy and paste it to a Google Doc, where I made the necessary edits before posting it to AO3. The Google Lens app didn’t always read the text perfectly, thus producing some mistakes that I found pretty darn funny. Like in this chapter, when Kirk says, “I need to conserve gas,” it originally read it as, “I need to conceive gas,” which gave me a pretty good chuckle before I fixed it.
> 
> And before that, when Annette says, “you won’t give me a ride,” it read it as, “you won’t give me a nude.” Which is bad enough without the fact it’s her BROTHER she’s speaking to!
> 
> Also, I agonized over whether or not to edit out the part where Mrs. Hunter says, "I want to have dinner ready before your dad gets home," but I ultimately decided to leave it in, just as a reminder to myself that yes, once upon a time I was the jackass who wrote that.


	6. Chapter 6

Marissa. Marvin's aunt. An evil witch.

But then again, not Marvin's aunt. Not a witch. Not Anymore, anyway. But definitely evil.

When I mentioned that Marvin's grandfather died of "supposedly natural causes", by that I meant that that wasn't really how he died at all. He was killed by his stepsister, Marvin's step-great aunt Marissa.

She killed him and made it look like he'd died of a heart attack, so that the law wouldn't know of what she'd done. Besides, old people die every day. Was it so weird for an eighty-year-old man to have a heart attack?

Marissa killed him because she knew about the magic. And she wanted it. She wanted it bad. She knew there was no way in the world she'd get it as long as he was alive. So she killed him.

But that was anything but the final word on the matter. Luckily, Marvin got to the magic before she did, so it was safe. But then, one unfortunate day, she imprisoned Marvin and the other Magic Makers. Then she used a magic witch's spell to conjure up a portal that could send them all to another dimension. With them out of the way, the McMagicspell magic would at last be hers. Luckily, the Magic Makers used their powers to fend her off, and thus sent her through the portal instead.

Trapped alone in the prison dimension, Manissa lived on. Passing through the portal had caused her to no longer be a mortal human. A magic transformation was made, and Marissa became what is known as a "Chumick".

The Chumicks are the evil creatures lurking in the shadows which I mentioned before. They look like people, but different. They have snow white skin, pitch black hair, and cannot survive in the mortal world unless they are protected by a mortal-like skin covering called a "guise”. Any unguised Chumicks that ever make it to the mortal world are forced to return later on through a hellish torture portal called the Tunnel of Fire.

The Magic Makers found out about the Chumicks from the  _ Book of Phenomena _ . And they think that they're going to be seeing a lot more of them from now on.

Marissa did not have a guise at first. But then she gained one by stabbing a McMagicspell, Marvin, that is, with a magic guising dagger that she had been given by another Chumick she met in the dimension. Marvin was all night of course. As soon as Kirk poured magical healing water from the attic onto the stab wound, he was fine.

Ever since then, Marissa’s been here in the mortal world, although the Magic Makers haven't seen her.

Until now, that is.

The panicky teller obeyed Marissa’s demand and began stuffing bills into the brown paper bag Marissa was shoving in her face.

When the bag was full, Marissa swept her gun over all the people waiting in line. "Everyone get down!"

All the people suddenly dropped down onto their stomachs.

But Annette remained standing.

"Annette!" Mrs. Hunter tugged at her pant leg from down on the floor. "Get down!" she begged.

Suddenly--sirens! The police were coming! Marissa couldn't get out the front way without running into them.

With no place else to go, Marissa took off through a hallway that extended into the back part of the bank hoping to find another exit somewhere.

Annette ran after her, completely forgetting that she had a gun.

She chased her through the hall, past doors to the other rooms in the bank. She caught up to the Chumick at a dead end, grabbed her by the arm, and ripped the hat and veil off.

Yep. It was Marissa.

Manssa spun around and shoved Annette away. She fell against the dead end wall.

Now, see, when Marissa had pushed her away, Anette's grip had been pretty tight. So tight, in fact, that as Marissa shoved Annette off of her, Annette took part of Marissa's guise with her. All the way from her elbow down to her hand and fingers, the piece of flesh-colored guise tore right off of her left forearm, exposing clammy, cloud-colored skin. Her real Chumick skin.

Marissa glared at her exposed arm. Then she glared at Annette, huffing with rage and fury.

"You!" she growled.

"Eeew!" Annette shrieked, flicking the piece of Chumick guise out of her hand. Like a glove made out of tissue paper, it drifted down to the floor and disintegrated.

Marissa pulled the guising dagger out of her pocket and drew closer to Amette. She would die for tearing her guise.

Annette cowered in terror. She saw that Marissa was not pointing the gun at her, so it must have been a fake. But the knife was real. And being held up against a corner by a Chumick with a knife is no less deadly than any gun.

"You'll pay dearly for that!" Marissa threatened.

And then, knife in hand...Marissa lunged at her!

But Annette was fast. She quickly levitated up and away, breaking through a panel above and going into the area above the false ceiling of the bank.

Marissa grabbed her hat and veil and put them back on. She then ran through the nearest door into an empty office, grabbed a chair, and returned to the place where Annette had gone up. Marissa stepped onto the chair and boosted herself up through the false ceiling.

The area above the ceiling was dark and stuffy. There were false ceiling panels everywhere, and the only place you could walk was on the rafters.

Marissa moved after Annette as quickly as she could, but it wasn't easy. She had to do the best she could to keep her balance on the narrow rafter without tumbling over and falling through the ceiling.

Faster and faster, she came closer to Annette.

Annette was afraid. What could she do?

Then she had an idea.

Annette turned around and faced Marissa.

Marissa leaped at her!

Big mistake. Annette jumped away, off of the rafter, and held herself there in the air above the ceiling.

Marissa missed her and fell, knocking a great big hole in the ceiling. She landed on the floor of an office. Her fall was broken by a police officer, who lay there beneath her body, knocked unconscious from her having fallen on him.

The police were everywhere! They searched rapidly through the halls and offices and rooms throughout the bank for the criminal. They'd find her if she didn't get out of there right away.

Marissa looked up through the hole in the ceiling at Annette, and Annette looked back down at her.

Marissa snarled. She was beyond furious. She wanted nothing more than to tear the little blonde girl’s throat out. But she didn't have time.

Marissa got to her feet. She grabbed her dagger and her bag of cash, fixed her veil disguise, opened a window inside of the office, and bolted out of it.

Annette quickly dropped down from the hole, jumped out the window, and followed her.


	7. Chapter 7

While all of this was happening, Kirk sat in the car, listening to tunes on the radio, completely oblivious to all that was going on inside. That is, until he heard sirens and suddenly half a dozen police cars showed up on the scene. Then he knew that something bad had definitely happened.

"Oh my gosh," Kirk exclaimed. "Mom! Annette!"

Frightened, Kirk hit his wrists together.

And then, at that very moment, the time of earth completely froze. The radio in the car stopped playing music. The police car sirens were silenced, and the panicky people who were rushing out of the bank to get the heck out of there stopped in their tracks as well, frozen like statues.

Time was frozen. And Kirk had done it.

Kirk looked at his wrist. The gold watch had appeared, as it always does whatever he freezes time. The watch's purpose is to let him know how much longer time will remain frozen. It only has the potential to stay that way for a minute, and then it must restart.

That's one of the rules of Kirk's power that he must always work around. That, and that he can only stop time twice in a one-hour period. Presently it was just after six o'clock, so Kirk could have this freeze and one more, but then no more until after seven.

Got it? Good.

Kirk hastily exited the car and ran across the parking lot to the front of the bank, weaving around frozen bystanders along the way. He pushed the glass door open and found inside still more terror stricken people, stuck in their spots like one big three-dimensional photograph. Some lay on the floor in terror, others were standing, and some were rushing out of the building as fast as they could.

And all of this was in that one frozen moment in time.

Across the large room in the bank, Kirk caught sight of his mother, crouched on the tile floor, looking as though she'd been on her stomach but was just then getting up. Annette was nowhere to be seen.

Kirk checked his watch. The minute was almost up. He quickly jumped behind a nearby desk, out of sight. When time restarted he'd come out from behind it, thus avoiding looking to the people around like he's just appeared out of nowhere. Time unfroze, and Kirk hurried over to his mother.

"What happened?" he asked, helping her up.

"Oh, Kirk!" she cried "The bank has just been robbed!"

"Robbed?!" Kirk wailed.

"Yes, by a woman. She was wearing a black dress and a veil. She had a gun! Annette followed her when she ran away. Mercy and goodness, why on earth would she do that? Oh, Kirk, I'm so frightened!"

Kirk had a pretty good idea of who this woman was.

A very good idea.

Kirk left his mother and ran outside again, just as the police burst through the doors and began to search the bank.

"Kirk, wait! Come back!" Mrs. Hunter yelled.

Kirk ran around the side of the bank that was opposite to the side where the car was parked. If Marissa and Annette had gone that way, he'd have seen them. They had to have gone this way.

Kirk cursed to himself. What was Annette doing chasing after Marissa? One Magic Maker against  _ her _ ? It was beyond dangerous. And she had a gun!

Kirk looked left. He looked right. Where had they gone? They could have been anywhere.

Then he saw them. Down a nearby alley, far in the distance, he saw a woman in black, running for all she was worth. Not far behind her was a girl with blond hair that even from a distance he could easily tell was his sister.

Kirk touched his wrists a second time.

The woman in black froze. The blonde girl froze too.

"What the...?"

Kirk rushed to the two frozen runners. Yes, it was Marissa. He could see where the guise had been torn off of her left forearm.

"Way to go, Annette."

And yes, the blonde girl running ten feet behind was Annette. But why was she frozen? The necklaces the Magic Makers wear not only give them their powers, but they also prevent them from freezing whenever Kirk freezes time. Annette had her necklace on. Why was she frozen?

"Annette?" Kirk said, taking hold of his frozen running sister's arm. Nothing. "This is freaky," he said.

Kirk snapped his fingers, thus undoing the time freeze.

He obviously didn't realize what would happen, because the moment time began to move again, Annette, who had no idea she'd just been frozen, continued to run. And since Kirk had a hold of her arm, she yanked him along. She stumbled, and the two of them fell onto the hard cement.

“Ow!" they both yelped.

Marissa kept running.

Annette looked at him. "Kirk, what are you doing?"

Kirk helped her up. "I should ask you the same question."

"I was chasing after Marissa," she told him. "She's getting away! We've got to stop her! Quick, freeze time!"

"Um, can't. Already did. Twice."

Annette frowned. "What?"

"Are you crazy, Annette?" Kirk demanded. "She had a gun. You could have been killed!”

"It must have been fake or out of bullets, otherwise she'd have used it on me. She did have a guising dagger, though."

"You mean the one she almost  _ killed  _ Marvin with?"

Annette nodded. "Yeah, that one. But I had a plan. I was going to chase after her until I caught up, and then I'd ram into her and knock her down. Then when she got up I'd jump into the air and levitate there, and when she pulled out the dagger I'd kick it out of her hand, then I'd kick her in the face, then I'd fall on her and knock her down again. Then I'd hold her in a headlock on the ground until the police came.”

"Oh, I see. So now you're  _ Ninja _ Weightless Woman, huh?"

"You remember that movie,  _ The Matrix _ ? I've been dying to try out one of those moves.”

* * *

Marissa got away. Kirk and Annette returned to the bank, and when Mrs. Hunter saw them, she threw her arms around Annette and told her never to scare her like that again.

The police questioned Annette. Her explanation for the two holes in the ceiling was simply that the bank robber got up on a chair and went up above the ceiling and she followed her. It was a lie, but consider the alternative:  _ “I levitated up into the ceiling and the Chumick followed me.”  _ The police would have thought she was nuts.

"Do you know who the bank robber was?" The police officer asked her.

"No,” she lied.

"Did you see her face at all?"

"She was wearing a veil."

Kirk sent Annette a questioning look. She returned the look with one that gave the answer.

"All right," the officer said. "That will be enough. But let me tell you, young lady. If I were you, I wouldn't go chasing after criminals like you did today. You could have gotten killed.”

"That's right,” Mrs Hunter said, giving Annette a look that said  _ "I'm very upset with you," _ but also  _ "I'm very glad you're all right." _

"What you did was very heroic," the officer continued, “but you must always keep safety in mind. Okay?"

“All right,” Annette said dryly in the midst of resisting the temptation to tell the dumb cop that it’s just as much her job to fight the bad guys as it is his.

“Okay. You folks are free to go.”

“Good,” said Annette. “Mom, can we go to Shoe City now? I really need to get those sneakers.”


	8. Chapter 8

Marvin sat alone at home. He was finished with his homework, and now he was just sitting on the sofa in the living room watching TV.

Then the doorbell rang. Marvin got up from the sofa and walked out of the living room, through the parlor, and into the foyer. He turned the doorknob on the front door and opened it.

He really had no clue who it could have been.

Marvin opened the door, and there, standing on the front porch of his big, two-story, one hundred-and fifty-year-old house, was the most beautiful girl in the world.

Clair Kosinaya.

Clair was really short, even shorter than Annette, with long hair that was dark as night. Her almond-shaped eyes were the kind that had a lovely way of just disappearing when she smiled, which she did right then as she asked, "Would you like to buy some candy?"

She held up a small box of candy bars.

Marvin's heart started beating rapidly. Clair Kosinaya, the most lovely creature on the face of the earth, was there, right there on his front porch. But why? What was she doing here?

Marvin stood there in the doorway staring at her with his mouth open. He may have been drooling.

Clair's face displayed confusion. "Do you want to buy candy or not?”

Marvin attempted to speak, but only a tiny squeak came out.

He quickly covered his mouth. His face turned so red it hurt.

But Clair just giggled "What did you say?”

Marvin tried to talk again, but it didn’t work. What was the matter with him? Why couldn’t he speak?

Then it occurred to him that speech requires breathing, which he hadn't been doing. He loudly sucked in a lungful of air.

Clair frowned and took a step back. "Um, never mind." She turned and began to walk off the porch.

"No, wait!" he said loudly.

Good. It worked that time.

Clair turned back and looked at him again.

"I'll buy some," he said, "How much are they?"

She stepped back onto the porch. "They're a dollar each. What kind do you want?”

Marvin stared into her eyes. "Huh?"

"I said what kind do you want? What kind of candy bar?"

Marvin looked down at the box. "Oh!" He surveyed the different varieties of candy.

Clair narrowed her eyes and pointed a finger at him. "Do I know you from some place?"

Marvin shot his eyes back up to hers. "Yes," he answered.

_ Wonderful! _ he thought.  _ She recognizes me! And all this time I thought I was invisible to her. _

"Do you go to Falstaff Academy?"

Marvin smiled. "Yes! Yes, I do!"

"I knew it, I knew I'd seen you somewhere. What grade are you in?"

"I'm a freshman."

"How weird, so am I."

_ I know, _ Marvin thought.  _ You’re also the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my whole life. _

"What's your name?" she asked him.

"It's Marvin. And yours is Clair Kosinaya."

She smiled and nodded. "Uh-huh."

"It's a lovely name.”

"Thank you. Anyway, what kind do you want?"

Marvin looked down at the box of candy again. “That one.” He pointed to the one with almonds.

"All right, then. One dollar.”

Marvin felt his pockets. Both of them were empty.

"Um, will you wait here, please? I've got money upstairs. I'll be right back."

Marvin tuned and dashed up the stairs so fast, it was as if a hundred Chumicks were chasing after him. He burst through his bedroom door, grabbed his money box, and opened it.

Inside of it were three nickels, a dime, a quarter, and two pennies. Fifty-two cents. Not nearly enough.

Marvin cursed to himself. It wasn't too long ago that he'd received a thousand-dollar inheritance from Grandpa Mark. He'd spent some of it, but then his mom made him put the rest in a bank account. These meager coins he had were remnants of lunch money.

But then he had an idea.

Marvin returned to the front porch, where Clair was still waiting.

"Um, it'll be a minute," he said. "Why don't you sit on the porch swing and wait? I won't be too long."

"Um, actually, I have to get going. I've got other houses to go to."

"No, please stay," Marvin insisted. "What's your hurry? It'll be three minutes, tops."

Clair shrugged. "All right.”


	9. Chapter 9

Marvin sprinted back up to his room. Once inside, he raised his hand towards the wall, and as he'd done so many times before, he said, "Appear". And just like every other time, the door that led up to the third level attic magically appeared on the wall.

Marvin went through the door and up to the attic of magic. He switched on the lights, and stepping up to the round table in the center of the room, he began paging through the  _ McMagicspell Book of Phenomena _ that rested upon it.

He was looking for a spell that he'd seen a couple of days ago. He was sure it was in there somewhere.

Finally, he came to the right page. Written across the top were the words: SPELL TO DUPLICATE MONEY.

The directions said:

MIX THE FOLLOWING INGREDIENTS IN THE CAULDRON:

ONE GALLON OF REGULAR WATER

ONE CUP OF RUSSIAN HAIL WATER

THREE CHESTNUTS

ONE HANDFUL OF MIRE FROM THE DEEP

THYME

MERCURY

SIXTEEN BLUE CACTUS NEEDLES

FOUR AGED FERN FRONDS, AT LEAST THIRTEEN YEARS OLD

OCEANIC SOAP

Marvin grabbed the ingredients he needed off of the shelves as fast as he could and threw them into the cauldron. He poked himself about ten times trying to count out the cactus needles, and he had no idea whether or not the fern fronds were old enough. All he could do was hope that the spell would work.

When the ingredients were all mixed, the brew began to glow. That meant that the spell had worked. Marvin read the rest of the directions. Basically they said to just throw the money in, and the brew would do the rest.

Marvin put the quarter, dime, and nickels into the cauldron of brew. They sank to the bottom.

At first nothing seemed to be happening. But then…

POP!  _ Whiiiiizzzzz!!! _

Marvin jumped back.

Like a bullet, the quarter shot straight up out of the cauldron! It hit the pointed ceiling of the attic and fell down to the wooden floor.

A moment later...

POP!  _ Whiiiiizzzzz!!! _

A second quarter flew out of the cauldron. There'd only been one quarter to begin with. The magic spell had duplicated it.

POP!  _ Whiiiiizzzzz!!! _

The dime came out this time

"Aaahhh!” Cried a voice from above. "What in the world?"

POP!  _ Whiiiiizzzzz!!! _

Out came the second dime.

“Marvin! What on earth are you doing?"

Marvin looked up and saw a pigeon perched on one of the rafters above.

Abey.

Abey is the talking pigeon that lives in Marvin's attic. An animal speech spell was placed on him by Grandpa Mark before he died. It was Abey who had told Marvin everything about McMagicspell. He's sort of the Magic Makers' guide, I guess. It's his job to protect the magic in the attic from thievery.

"I'm just doing a spell," Marvin said.

"What kind of spell? A ‘kill the pigeon’ spell? It's raining big pieces of metal in here. In both directions, up and down!"

"It's a spell to duplicate money," Marvin said tiresomely.

"Who in the world needs money that bad?" Abey demanded.

POP!  _ Whiiiiizzzzz!!!  _ POP!  _ Whiiiiizzzzz!!! _ POP!  _ Whiiiiizzzzz!!! _

Out came the three nickels.

"Yikes!" Abey screamed. "That one almost hit my head!" He flew around the attic in a flurry.

POP!  _ Whiiiiizzzzz!!!  _ POP!  _ Whiiiiizzzzz!!! _ POP!  _ Whiiiiizzzzz!!! _

Out came the other three.

"That one plowed right through my tail feathers! Okay, that does it." Abey took a perch again. "I demand you tell me this minute why you are duplicating money, Marvin. I admit I don't know much about U.S. laws, but isn't counterfeiting illegal?"

Marvin sighed. “Yes, but you don't need to worry, Abey. All I'm doing is turning fifty cents into a dollar. It's not like I'm turning five dollars into five hundred or anything like that. I'm wiser than you think. I understand the meaning of greed. And I know better than to go using McMagicspell magic for every little thing I want. But just once, I  _ need _ this spell."

"And why, pray tell, do you need it?"

"Because the girl of my dreams is on the front porch selling candy bars."

Abey rolled his beady little eyes. "Oh,  _ that’s _ what you need a dollar for? Oh, yeah, real big emergency, Marvin."

Marvin gathered the money, all spread out on the attic floor.

"Since when are you so uptight?"

"Since you woke me from my peaceful nap, that's when."

Marvin made an amused face. "Do all pigeons sleep as much as you do? Or is humanity getting the best of you?”

He hurried back downstairs, hoping that Clair would still be there.

Fortunately, she was.

"Got the money," Marvin said. He counted it out into her hand. "Twenty-five, fifty, sixty, seventy, seventy-five, eighty, eighty-five, ninety, ninety-five, a dollar."

Clair smiled. "Thank you." She handed him the almond candy bar he'd wanted.

"Well," she said. "I guess I'll see you at school."

Marvin watched as she turned and walked off of and away from the porch.

_ What are you doing, you idiot? _ a voice in his head seemed to say.  _ The girl of your dreams has just shown up on your doorstep and you’re going to let her walk away? _

"Hey, wait!" Marvin called, shutting the door and running out after her.

She turned around. "What is it?"

"Um, Clair, do you want some help?"

She made a questioning face. "Help?"

"Selling the candy, I mean."

Clair looked down at the grass. "Um, actually, I'm fine just selling them by myself. But...yeah, I guess so."

Marvin grinned. "Great."


	10. Chapter 10

"We've got milk chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate with almonds, and milk chocolate with toffee nuggets," Marvin said as he pointed to each kind. "Take your pick."

"Hmmm," said the woman standing in the front doorway of her house. "I'll take one dark chocolate, and two of the ones with the toffee nuggets.”

"Three dollars, please," Clair said with a smile.

The woman reached into her purse, counted out her money, and handed it to Clair. Marvin gave the woman the candy she wanted.

"Thank you," Marvin and Clair said simultaneously.

The woman nodded cordially and shut the door. Marvin and Clair moved along.

Clair looked up at the sky. It was getting dark. “Well, I think that’s enough for one afternoon. I'd better be heading home now.”

"Do you live very far?" Marvin wanted to know.

Clair shook her head. "No Just a few blocks from here."

"I'll walk you home."

Clair smiled. "Thanks.”

"So," Marvin said casually as they walked side by side, "how come you're selling candy? Raising money for something?"

"No. I just do this to make extra money. I also deliver newspapers in the morning. I'm gonna quit this, though, and get a real job as soon as I turn fifteen."

"Cool.”

Silence then, for a minute.

"So, what are your parents like?" Marvin inquired.

"I live with my grandmother."

“Oh," Marvin said, feeling pretty stupid. "Well then, what's she like?"

"My grandma's pretty cool. She's Indonesian. I am too. She loves meeting my friends. Better watch out. She sees you, she'll immediately want you to try her fudge."

"Fudge?" Marvin's eyebrows perked. "She makes fudge?"

"Yeah, every now and then."

Marvin wondered why Clair didn't live with her parents. Did something happen to them? Having had a death in his own family though, he resolved that that was a question better left unasked.

There was silence for another minute or so as they walked. Then something started ringing.

They stopped. Clair looked around. "What was that?”

It had come from Marvin's cell phone in his back pocket.

"What was what?" Marvin subtly reached into his back pocket and felt for the little switch to turn the ringer off. He found it and hit it before it could ring a second time.

"That ringing," Clair said.

"Ringing?” Marvin said, pretending not to know.

"Yeah. It sounded like a telephone.”

"Oh, that." Marvin pointed to the house they'd been walking past. "Probably came from there. Someone's phone. They must have answered it."

They continued walking.

"Well," Clair said once they'd rounded a corner, "here we are. My house. Do you want to come in and meet Grandma?”

"I would love to, but I actually have to get back.”

Clair nodded with understanding. "Okay. Another time then?”

"You bet.”

"Bye, Marvin. Thanks for helping me. It was great meeting you."

Clair ran across the street to the house that stood there, and disappeared into it.

Marvin sighed. He'd just been with the girl of his dreams, and her name as Clair Kosinaya.

Then Marvin snapped out of his love trance and back into reality. He remembered his cell phone ringing. The reason he and his friends each had one of these was so that they could each be in contact with each other if there was ever an emergency.

Marvin took the phone out of his pocket. He had voice mail for it in case for some reason he couldn't answer a call.

Marvin checked the message. It was from his best friend.

"Marvin?" said the recording. "It's Kirk. You're not at your house, you're not answering your cell...where are you? We need an emergency Magic Makers meeting, like, now. I've already called Courtney and José, and we decided that we're going to meet at your house at seven o’clock. I hope you hear this before then. If you're not there we'll just meet someplace else without you, but you are sort of our leader, so we really need you there. Besides, if you aren't there, I'm going to give you a serious talking-to at school tomorrow."

Marvin erased the message. _Seven o’clock_ , he repeated in his mind.

He looked at his watch. There was enough time.

Marvin hurried home.


	11. Chapter 11

Marvin returned home to find the house lights on. He wrinkled his nose to the strong smell of something cooking. His parents were home.

Kirk's car pulled up to the curb, and he, Annette, Courtney, and José all piled out.

"Hi Kirk!" Marvin called. "Thanks for the message you left me."

"Good, you're here," Kirk said. "Quick, let's go inside."

Marvin shook his head. "Um, better not. My parents are home and I can smell dinner being made. And, knowing my mom well, it's most likely something that has garlic in it. So unless you all want to stay for dinner and delay the meeting another half an hour, I think we'd better go have the meeting some place else."

Courtney clasped her hands. "Okie-dokie. Just as long as it's not at my house. I have two little brothers and a sister, so unless you want them in your hair the whole time..."

"I'd offer my house," José said, "but Jason and Dante might still be there."

Everyone looked at Kirk and Annette.

Kirk smiled. "Okay then, we're off to Moonstone."

Annette groaned. "Moonstone again? There are other restaurants, you know.”

José held up his hands. "Moonstone's fine with me."

"Moonstone’s nice as pie," Courtney agreed, and they headed back to the car.

Annette pouted. "Can't ever be my way, can it?"

Marvin stopped. "Hey, one thing before we go. Kirk, buddy, freeze time, would you?"

"Um, sure.”

Kirk touched his wrists, and as usual, time stopped.

Everybody but Kirk shivered from the eerie temperatureless weave that always seems to sweep over everything whenever time stands still. Kirk was used to it by now, of course, but the others all still found it extremely weird. Nothing's hot, nothing's cold...it was just weird.

"Thank you." Marvin ran quickly into the house. About a minute later he came back out of the front door and ran to the car. Time unfroze itself.

“I left my folks a note saying where I'd be," Marvin said. "Let's go.”

The Magic Makers drove to the not-so-far-away favorite restaurant of theirs, Moonstone, right across the street from the mall. They were all seated in Kirk's car with Kirk in the driver's seat and Annette in the front passenger seat. The other three were in the back, with Marvin on the left, Jose on the night, and Courtney in the middle.

"Courtney, leave the radio alone!" Kirk demanded.

“But this song bites!"

Courtney kept reaching her hand forward to the radio in the front from the middle of the back, and Kirk kept having to slap it away.

"I'm warning you, touch it again, and you'll have to walk to Moonstone."

For a few seconds he didn't see her arm reach forward again. But then...

"Nice try, Courtney, but I can still see your am when it's invisible."

“Aw, forget this.” Courtney turned opaque again and hit the button on the radio fast with her finger.

"There we go!" she exclaimed. “Much better. That's my jam, right there."

Courtney snapped her fingers and did a sort of dance while sitting down in the back seat.

Kirk switched it back. “That does it. Marvin, unlock your door.”

José sat quietly and stared out the window, which was rolled all the way down. His arm was hanging out in the cold night air. The wind that blew in swept up to the front and into Annette's blond hair.

"Jose, can you roll your window up? My hair is turning into a hurricane. José? He can't hear me. Kirk, roll his window up.”

The buttons for all four windows were right beside the driver's seat. Kirk touched the one for the rear right window. It rolled all the way up.

José's arm was still hanging out.

Courtney and Marvin stared hard. Annette looked behind her and stared too.

"Um, José?" Courtney finally said. "Can you feel that,or what?"

José looked at her, then at his arm. The window was rolled up, but his arm was hanging out like it wasn't. They were literally sharing the same space.

There was only one way this was possible. José's arm was sublimed.

José rocked back in surprise and quickly pulled his am inside the car. He smiled. "That was a total accident. I didn't even know I was doing it."

Kirk looked at José through the rear-view mirror. "Jose, you okay man? You're being kinda quiet.”

"Yeah, I'm fine It's just that--” He stopped.

"What?" Annette wanted to know.

"Well, when Kirk called me about the meeting, I was at home, practicing with Jason and Dante. I had to leave in the middle of everything and...I don't know. I just didn't really know what to tell them.”

Kirk hit a red light. Right after it was the plaza where Moonstone was located.

"Okay, Magic Makers," he said. "We're almost to Moonstone."

Marvin scratched his chin. "You know, with a name like Moonstone, you'd think the place was expensive.”

"But it's not," José said. "It's just called that because the man who started it is Peter Moonstone. You know, just like McDonald’s was started by some guy named McDonald and Carl’s Jr. was started by some guy named Carl.”

"And Arby's was started by a guy named Arby?" Courtney added.

"Yeah, I guess."

The light turned green. Kirk drove on.

"How do you know that, José?" Annette inquired.

"My mom works at Moonstone. She's the restaurant manager.”

Marvin's eyebrows perked. So did Kirk's, Annette's and Courtney's.

"Wow," Courtney said, smiling. "Small world, isn't it?"

"Why?" José wondered.

"Because," Annette said, "Marvin's mom works there too.”

José looked at him. "She does?"

Marvin nodded. "Uh-huh. She's the chef."

Kirk nabbed the closest parking spot he could find. They all went into the restaurant, where Marvin requested that they have a certain particular table.

"Okay," Courtney said once they were all seated, "would you care to inform me, Marvin, exactly why it is necessary for us to have a table outside in the cold night air?"

"What," Marvin said, surveying the patio's atmosphere, "you don't like it out here? You don't think it's quaint?"

"Quaint's fine as long as I can feel my ears.” Courtney held her jacket tighter.

"There's not even anybody else out here," Annette added. "They're all inside where it's warm. They're smart, see.”

"Listen, the farther we are from ears, the more free we are to talk about magic. Besides…” Marvin pointed up.

Everyone listened and heard the sound of wings flapping.

"Yoo-hoo!” called a familiar voice. Abey flew onto the patio and landed on a short stone wall beside a flowerbed. "Hi, everybody!"

Kirk grinned. "Oh, I see. We need to include everybody, don't we?”

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Marvin said, "but I don't think they allow birds into restaurants.”

“Not live ones, anyway,” Courtney remarked.


	12. Chapter 12

"A salad, please," said Annette.

"And what kind of dressing would you like on that?"

“Thousand Island.”

The waitress scribbled on her notepad. "Okay, I'll have those for you in a few minutes.” She went back into the restaurant.

"You can come out now, Abey," Marvin called.

Abey hopped back onto the stone wall. Courtney put her elbow on the table and rested her head on her fist. "Say, was Del Taco started by a guy named Del?"

"I doubt it," said José.

"And what about Burger King? Is it true they started out in England?"

Annette tilted her head. "Hey, didn’t the McMagicspells originally come from England?” she asked Marvin.

“Scotland,” he corrected her.

“Is that different?” Courtney said.

Kirk held up his hand. "Can we start this meeting already?"

"Sure, Kirk." Marvin leaned forward. "So, what's up?"

Kirk told them about Marissa robbing the bank. When he was finished, they all sorta just scratched their ears and looked around. They were probably all thinking,  _ Okay, she’s robbing banks now. What are we supposed to do? _

Courtney made a whining sound. "I have had it up to two feet above my head with Marissa. Why can't we all have powers and play with magic without having to fight deadly Chumicks? Huh? Can you answer me that?"

"We're the Magic Makers, Courtney," said Annette. "It's our job."

Courtney shook her head. "No, our job is to protect ourselves, not protect banks from getting robbed. That's for the police to do. As a matter of fact, if I remember correctly, Marvin said that if Marissa ever tried to do anything to us, we should just call the police."

"Well, the police came, didn't they?" José asked.

Kirk nodded. "Yes, they came. They even questioned Annette. See, when Marissa ran away, Annette chased after her. Apparently she wanted to use her powers to bust out her  _ Matrix _ moves on Marissa."

"Wow," Courtney said. "I would have paid to see that."

"Too bad it didn't happen. I did get to tear her guise off her arm, though. I had no idea guises could tear."

"You know what?" Kirk said. "I've been thinking and thinking about it, and it still doesn't make any sense. When I saw Annette chasing after Marissa, naturally I froze time so Annette could catch her. But Annette froze too, even though she was wearing her necklace. It doesn't make any sense.”

"You're right," Annette agreed. "It doesn't.”

"Oh, I believe it does," Abey said.

"Why do you say that?" Courtney wondered.

"Well, as you know, Kirk's powers are capable of freezing the whole world for a minute. And, whoever wears a magic necklace doesn't freeze. But think. Has there ever been a time when Kirk froze time and not everyone was present?"

"Yes," Kirk answered. "More than once. When I first used my powers, only Annette was with me. Then there was another time when it was just me and Marvin. That was all before José joined us, of course."

"Okay,” Abey said. "And at those times, did any of the others notice time freezing?"

"Courtney and I were at the mall that day,” Annette mentioned. "We were there for a couple of hours, and time never froze. At least not as far as we knew.”

"But what about the time when Marissa first attacked us at Marvin's place?" Courtney said. "We were pretty perceptive of it that time."

"That's because you were only downstairs," Abey said. "Marvin and Kirk were upstairs. You were close enough that you didn't freeze."

"Oh, I see what you're saying," Kirk said. "When I freeze time, and one of the others is close enough and has their necklace on, they don't freeze. But if they're very far away, like at the mall, they do. That makes sense. Annette was pretty far away from me when she was chasing Marissa. By the way...Annette? Why did you lie to the police?"

Courtney's eyebrows rose. "You lied to the police? Shame, shame."

"What did she say?" José inquired.

"When they asked her if she knew who the robber was, she said she had no idea."

"Well, what was I supposed to say? Yes, I know her, she's Marissa, a witch turned Chumick with a guise and she's one of millions from another dimension? I don't think so. Marvin may have told us to turn to the police if she ever stepped over the line, but a lot of things have changed, you know? Don't you agree, Marvin?"

No answer.

"Marvin?" she repeated.

They all looked at him, and noticed he was staring off into space.

"Marvin, you okay pal?" said Kirk.

"I don't know," he said. "Yeah, I guess. It's just...Marissa has been my aunt for fifteen years. I never really liked her, to be honest. But now...I just don't know what I'm supposed to do. I mean, Marissa's never robbed a bank before. Ever since she became a Chumick she's been going totally insane.”

“She is what she is,” Abey said. "All Chumicks are evil."

"Marissa's always been evil."

"Yes, but becoming a Chumick has caused her evil to increase, and it will continue to do so."

"I know, and that's what frustrates me. She killed my grandfather. And now look at her. She's still doing terrible things--and getting away with them. Sure,  _ we’re _ all okay, but what about the rest of the world? The world that the McMagicspells swore to protect from monsters like her? We can't let her keep doing things like this. But we also can't kill her because she's immortal. So what are we supposed to do?”

"I think I know you well enough," Annette said. "Even if you could kill Marissa you wouldn't. You're better than that. Am I wrong?"

Marvin looked at her, then away.

"That must be why you wanted the police to handle it." Annette went on. "It's easier to leave it to them than have to decide yourself what to do with her. But now you know we can't do that. So it's like you said: What are we supposed to do?”

Marvin looked at her again, and smiled half a smile.

_ Good old Annette, _ he thought.  _ Always able to see deep into the little cracks of the human soul. _

Kirk pointed. "You guys, look.”

They all turned and looked in the direction he pointed.

"Oh, man," José said.

There, through the window, at a table at the far comer of the restaurant, sitting and smiling and laying out dollar bills as she counted them, was Marissa.

She'd asked for a table that was far away from the other diners, so that they wouldn't see all of her money and wonder where it came from.

Marissa couldn't see the Magic Makers because of a glare in the window, but from outside they could see her just fine. Besides, she was busy counting and wasn't paying attention to much else anyway.

She was wearing different clothes than before. She now had on an expensive maroon-colored suit with matching shoes and hat. It had long sleeves and gloves to cover her white left arm. It was one of those things that only an old lady would wear, but it was still really nice.

"Looks like she's been spending," Annette muttered.

Marvin snapped his fingers. "That's why she robbed that bank. Her home and transportation were taken away. She doesn't have anything, or any money."

"She does now," said José.

The waitress came out of the restaurant again with the Magic Makers' soups and salads.

"Okay," Kirk said when she'd gone back in, "who of you can actually sit here and stuff your face while  _ she _ is in there?”

"I can." Courtney picked up a fork and stabbed into her salad.

"Courtney," Kirk started to say.

"What?" she snapped, her mouth full of dressing and lettuce. "I'm paying for this meal, so I'm going to eat it. Besides, what do you suggest we do, Kirk? Run in there and inflict our magic on her? In the middle of a restaurant? I don't think so."

"Well, we've got to do  _ something _ .”

Kirk looked at the others for support. Instead, they picked up their utensils and started eating too.

Courtney was right. What were they supposed to do?

They all ate quietly, trying as best they could to keep one eye on Marissa, but do it unnoticeably.

A waitress approached Marissa's table. She quickly stuffed all the money back into her purse so the waitress wouldn't see. She said something to Marissa, which the Magic Makers couldn't hear because she was inside, but it was probably something like, "Can I get you any dessert?"

Marissa smiled her patented fake smile and shook her head. The waitress left the check on the table and walked away. Marissa pulled a few bills from her purse and put them on the table. Then she got up and left.

Annette threw her napkin on the table. “Okay, that does it. Kirk is right. Marissa’s gotten away from us twice. We can’t let her do it again. This time we have to do something.”

“What do we do?” José wondered.

They all looked at Marvin. Like he knew or something.

Marvin shrugged. “I guess we follow her.”


	13. Chapter 13

Four of the Magic Makers went into the restaurant. José stayed behind, so it wouldn't look like they were ditching without paying.

Marvin held Abey inside of his jacket, unzipped a little so he could see out.

The four--or rather five of them followed Marissa carefully from far behind, watching as she strolled to the front of the restaurant and exited through the front doors.

An employee waved goodbye to her and said, "Have a good night." She ignored him.

The kids walked faster, reaching the front doors and looking out of a window next to it. They watched as Marissa swaggered away from Moonstone.

"Where is she planning on going, I wonder?" Annette said casually. "It's not like she has a place to stay."

"The county took her trailer, but that doesn't mean she can't go to a motel," Marvin mentioned.

Right then, seemingly out of nowhere, a large black bird appeared. Too big to be a crow. No. It was a raven. Definitely a raven. And it was carrying something.

The raven flew from far off into the plaza where Moonstone was, carrying something that appeared to be cylindrical in its talons.

They all saw it. Marissa stopped and looked up. She saw it too.

"Um, okay, that looks pretty strange," Courtney commented.

The raven flew around Marissa in a large circle. She spun around and kept her eyes fixed on it as it flew.

The big, black bird flew off once again in the other direction before turning sharply around and soaring straight in Marissa's direction.

Marissa didn't back away or look anxious or anything. She stood right in her spot and kept her gaze on the raven.

The raven soared high over Marissa's head, dropping the object it held just as it passed over her. Marissa held up her hands and caught it like it was nothing.

Then the raven flew over Moonstone's roof and they didn't see it again.

They could see the object now. It looked like a scroll.

"A raven delivering a scroll?" Kirk said incredulously.

"Sometimes Chumicks send messages through separate dimensions via ravens," Abey explained. “According to the  _ Book of Phenomena _ .”

“Hence the phrase, 'a little bird told me’.” Courtney mused.

"Uh-oh," Marvin said. "So then she  _ has  _ been working with another Chumick."

Marissa held the scroll in her hands and examined it. She untied a couple of cords on both ends and unrolled it, She read what was on the scroll.

Now she looked anxious. She looked to both sides with a worried face, like she thought someone might be watching her.

"What does it say?" Annette pressed. "What does it say?"

Kirk rolled his eyes. "We don't know, Annette. None of us can see it from here."

Marissa rolled the parchment scroll up once again and put it halfway into her purse. It was too long and didn't fit inside completely, but according to Courtney...

"Makes a good accessory, methinks.”

Marissa began walking once again, fast, directly to a nearby bus stop.

It was safe to come out of the restaurant now. She wouldn't see them. She reached the bus stop on the sidewalk by the road and sat down at the bench there.

"She's gonna take a bus?" said Marvin. "Where's she gonna go?"

For a moment no one said anything. Courtney looked at Marvin and was surprised to see that he had already been looking at her.

"I know what you're thinking," she said.

Marvin shook his head. "That's not what I was thinking."

"Oh really? Well if that's not what you were thinking, then what made you think that I thought that that's what you were thinking?"

"What are you two gibbering about?" Kirk wanted to know.

"Somebody needs to follow Marissa," Courtney answered.

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to," Marvin assured her.

Courtney shut her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "Please don't tempt me. Look, I would like nothing more than to go back inside, have dinner, and then go home. But as much as I enjoy being in one piece, all of you have used your powers on Marissa while I'm the only one who hasn't."

“That's not true," Annette said. "José hasn't used his powers on her either."

"Still," Courtney continued, "someone needs to get on that bus and stay with Marissa, but without her seeing them. And being invisible is the very best way to not be seen."

"We could just take the car and follow the bus," Annette offered.

Courtney folded her arms. "We could, but Marissa might see the car. We might lose the bus. Besides, eventually Marissa will get  _ off  _ the bus, and then what?”

"I say we let her do it," said Kirk. "I mean, for once Courtney is actually  _ interested _ in helping."

"We can keep in touch with our cell phones," Courtney added. "It'll be all right."

"Okay, but remember," Annette said in her caring, concerned friend voice, "your power makes you invisible, not inaudible. Anyone could hear you. There's also a risk that someone could smack right into you. So keep quiet and stay distant."

Courtney smiled half a smile. "Don't worry. Colliding with Marissa is no more on my agenda than it is on hers."


	14. Chapter 14

Annette and José have powers that can't be used in public without running a great risk of being seen. With Marvin and Kirk's powers, it's a lot safer, but they still have to be careful.

Courtney's powers are the same. She can be invisible, just as long as she doesn't make her invisible presence known. If she makes sure not to sneeze or bump into anyone or have something spilled on her, then she's pretty much okay.

It was the  _ turning _ invisible part that had to be done carefully. That was why Courtney stepped into the ladies' restroom while all the others went back to the table.

There was one other woman in there. She'd just come out of the only stall, a handicapped stall, and proceeded directly to the sink to wash her hands.

Courtney entered the same stall and sat on the toilet to wait for the woman to leave.

Once she had, Courtney unlocked the stall door and opened it once again, but stayed inside. She shut her eyes and concentrated hard, remembering how she had always been able to use this great power just fine ever since she'd received it from the magic necklace Marvin gave her.

Right then, the restroom door opened again and someone else came in.

_ Uh-oh, _ Courtney thought, her eyes opening impulsively.

She looked down at her body. Where before stood her girlish figure, dressed in fashionable clothes, there now stood a shimmering, ghostly translucent girlish figure, dressed in translucent fashionable clothes.

At least that's what  _ she _ saw. And that's what the Magic Makers would see also, since they have necklaces. But to anyone else that looked, they would only see plain air.

It had worked. Courtney had activated her powers. She was invisible.

The woman who had just entered the room stepped into the open stall that Courtney was in. Courtney dashed out of the way, narrowly preventing a collision.

Too late to get out through the stall door. The woman had already shut it.

The woman, who looked to be about in her forties, prepared herself to sit down on the toilet.

_ Eeew, _ Courtney thought, turning her head away.  _ I'm outta here. _

Courtney got down on her stomach and slithered like a snake under the space at the bottom of the stall.

Good, she was out. Now she only had to wait for the woman to come out too.

A minute or so later, she did come out, and went to the sink to wash.

_ Too bad this isn’t the men’s bathroom, _ Courtney thought.  _ Guys never wash. _

The woman finished washing her hands, then she dried them. After tossing the paper towels into the trash, she stepped up to the mirror once again to check her hair and makeup.

_ Your hair looks fine, lady, _ Courtney thought impatiently.  _ Would you hurry up? _

The woman walked to the bathroom door, with invisible Courtney following softly right behind her. The woman opened it, and the two of them stepped out.

Courtney walked past the large window that looked out at the patio, where the other four Magic Makers were sitting and having dinner. Annette pointed to her, and the others turned their heads and looked.

  
Courtney tried not to feel resentful for being the one to have to do what she was doing. After all, it had been her idea. She realized that when she had volunteered to do it, she had sounded more heroic than usual. Whether or not she _ felt _ heroic, however, was a different matter entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Google Lens adventure continues… When I scanned and copied this chapter, it read “a minute or so later” as “a minute or 30 later”. Which I liked, because that sounds like something sassy that I would actually write, but in this case it was unintentional.


	15. Chapter 15

Courtney made her way to the front of the restaurant and pretty much did the same thing she did in the bathroom: waited for somebody to open the door and walked out behind them.

She was relieved to find Marissa still at the bus stop, still sitting on the bench, waiting. Courtney thought to sit down too, but decided not to, since anyone else wanting to take a bus might sit on her.

At last Marissa stood up as the bus she'd been waiting for arrived. The doors opened and she stepped up and went in. She pulled a dollar bill from her purse and fed it to the slot.

"Thank you," the bus driver said.

Another fake smile, then off she went to find a seat.

Courtney hurried into the bus. The doors closed and the driver set the bus into motion again.

Courtney couldn't help feeling like a heel for taking a bus without paying. It was practically stealing. But then she reminded herself why she was doing it, and felt a little less bad about it after that.

Courtney could see that the bus was almost empty. Besides Marissa, who'd taken a seat in the middle of the bus, there were only two other people. One was an old man in the back, and the other was a young guy wearing headphones on the other side of the aisle and a couple seats ahead of Marissa.

The invisible Courtney moved carefully along the aisle, holding onto the safety bars so as to not topple over with each unfriendly jolt of the swiftly-moving bus. She sat down on the seat behind Marissa. The seats were not padded at all, so there was no need to worry about her butt making an impression.

Marissa turned her head around and looked behind her. Courtney's heart leaped into her throat. She had a sinister frown on her wrinkly face.

Courtney began to sweat. Did Marissa know she was there? No. No, she couldn’t. Courtney was invisible. And looking closer, Courtney could tell that Marissa was looking past her, not at her. Even still, as Marissa eyed the interior of the bus, Courtney could tell that she was definitely suspicious.

Did she suspect that she was being followed? Who knew? The Magic Makers really didn't know all that much about her at all. What  _ did _ they know? That she was a Chumick, yes, although anyone who saw her would probably just assume she was nothing but a harmless old lady with a rather grouchy face who probably liked to knit. Behind that eighty-year-old granny facade, however, was a terrible, ruthless creature, a servant of evil who enjoyed the usage of anything sharp--ax, sword, dagger, you name it.

A Chumick. And the only one they knew about so far.

That was when it hit her. What did Courtney, or any of the others for that matter  _ really _ know about Chumicks? How was she supposed to know that Marissa couldn't hear her heart beating right then? How was she to know that Marissa couldn't smell her perspiration vanquishing the minimal amount of Secret antiperspirant left from what she'd applied early that morning?

That's just it. She didn't know.

How could the Magic Makers be sure they could stand a chance against Marissa, or any other Chumick for that matter? Chumicks are not the same as human beings. And just as a dog's hearing is much greater than a person's, and an eagle’s eyes are much more keen, and a cheetah's legs are much faster, just how many characteristics might an evil, killer Chumick have that would dwarf a mortal's?

That was probably one of the biggest reasons why Courtney was following Marissa. “Better the devil you know”, as the saying goes. It's a good idea to know as much about your enemy as you possibly can, because if your enemy has any advantage over you, you’d better know about it.

That's what Courtney was doing. She was exploring the unknown, inspecting the deep waters. It was up to her to find out firsthand as much as she could about all that the Magic Makers didn't know about their greatest threat.

Nothing like learning firsthand about your greatest threat, huh?

Abey had said that the Magic Makers could expect many more conflicts involving Chumicks. And Abey is rarely wrong. So, like it or not, Courtney needed to do this, for the sake of the Magic Makers. Perhaps even the sake of the world.

It was then that she began to wish that Marvin had chosen someone else to give a magic necklace to.

Marissa stood up quickly, nearly causing Courtney to have a heart attack. But she calmed down fast, seeing that Marissa was just getting off of the bus. Apparently in the middle of Courtney's pensiveness, Marissa had reached her destination.

The bus driver opened the doors and Marissa and Courtney both stepped out.

Courtney looked to see where they were. They were at a motel. Not very surprising, as Marvin did say that she had no place to live.

Marissa went into the lobby to check in. Courtney hung outside and dialed Annette’s number on her cell phone.

"Where are you?" Annette asked.

“I’m at the Motel Six. It's the one down by the highway across the street from the Amoco station.”

"Has anything unusual happened yet?"

"You mean besides a Hispanic chick turning invisible? No. I think I'm going to have to follow Marissa into her motel room if I want to see what that scroll says."

"Oh, please be careful," Annette said. "We wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you."

"You mean you don't want me to get butchered? Darn. There go my plans," Courtney remarked.

"We'll be standing by," Annette told her. "Good luck. See you soon."

The two of them hung up.

Marissa reemerged from the lobby with a room key card. Courtney followed her until she stopped in front of one of the many numbered doors. Marissa placed the card into the door's slot, opened the door, and stepped inside. Courtney squeezed in just before Marissa closed it.

Now she was nervous. Being out in the open with Marissa she could handle, and even the bus was somewhat bearable, but being alone with Marissa in a quiet motel room was really pushing it.

It was then that Courtney considered for the first time ever how long she could keep up being invisible. It wasn't a comforting thought. She'd been that way for almost half an hour, longer than she ever had before. Whenever Kirk freezes time, it unfreezes after a minute, and after being done twice, it takes till the first minute of the next hour to sort of recharge. What if, all of a sudden, Courtney suddenly turned opaque and couldn't go back to being invisible? What would she do? Run away, yes, but remember, she was inside of a motel room. And she can't sublime through walls like José can.

_ Don't think about it, Courtney, _ she silently told herself,  _ don't think about it! Focus! _

Marissa sat down on the bed. She pulled the scroll out of her purse once again and unrolled it. She held it up in front of her eyes to read it again.

Courtney leaned close so she could read it too. She held her breath so Marissa wouldn't feel her breathing on the nape of her neck.

The scroll read:

_ Marissa, _

_ Upon touching this scroll, you have given me knowledge of your position. I will confer with you the moment you are alone. I suggest you get alone fast. Keep me waiting and you'll wish you hadn't. _

_ Centromere _

Right at that moment, the air in front of Marissa opened up, and where before there was nothing, there now stood a portal, a mystical doorway leading into another dimension.

And in that doorway stood a figure of terror.


	16. Chapter 16

Courtney jumped back, covering her mouth to keep from screaming.

The creature before them stood tall and strong with a full head of long black hair. His skin was pasty white, and his eyes were so fiery red, it almost hurt to look at them because they seemed to bum into you.

Courtney didn't have to guess what he was. She knew immediately.

He was definitely, without a doubt, a Chumick.

Courtney gulped. Could he see her?

She shook her head, telling herself no. He couldn't see her. The scroll had said that he would show himself to Marissa as soon as she was alone, so he wouldn't even be there if he knew that she was there too. Besides, he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at Marissa. And he was doing it furiously.

"Centromere," Marissa said.

"Whom did you expect?" he said in an icy manner.

"Well.." Marissa swallowed. "I never expected that you'd be able to contact me. But hey, what do I know about Chumicks and their powers, huh? I may be one, but I'm a pretty sorry excuse for one.”

She smiled as she said this. Centromere wasn't amused, and the smile quickly vanished.

Courtney could tell that Marissa was nervous. Not terrified, just nervous. And irritated. This guy, this Chumick, Centromere, was the one that had helped Marissa escape from the prison dimension. Marvin and Abey had gone over everything and concluded that Chumicks don't like helping each other. They never do anything for anyone unless it benefits them somehow. Centromere wouldn't have helped Marissa escape the dimension and given her the guising dagger to prevent ever having to go back if there wasn't something in it for him. So that means she owed him. And, in a way, she depended on him. That’s why she was irritated. Marissa is not the type that enjoys being brought to her knees.

"How long do you intend to make me wait, Marissa?" he demanded.

Marissa hesitated. She took a deep breath, and then, as boldly as possible, said, "Oh, shut up, you idiot. You never gave me any time limit."

Centromere’s nostrils flared. He sprang forward like a lion about to make a kill. But then he stopped. Or rather something  _ stopped _ him. His body slammed against the invisible veil of the portal, shoving him backwards and making the veil shimmer.

Marissa smiled and stood up, looking much more confident than she had a moment ago.

Courtney laughed inwardly at Marissa's style. She'd taken a risk and insulted Centromere to find out whether or not he could come out of the portal and strangle her. And now that she knew he couldn't, she didn't have to kiss up to him.

Centromere took a rolled-up parchment scroll out of the black cloak he was wearing and held it out so Marissa could see it. "We made a deal. I've already done my part. Now you must do yours.”

"Oh, you've done your part, have you?" she said challengingly.

Courtney moved out of the way as Marissa turned and walked around the side of the bed. She removed her blazer and gloves and laid them on the bed, revealing a silky sleeveless maroon blouse she was wearing underneath. She stood in front of Centromere again.

"Well, you did a lousy job." She pointed to her bare left arm.

Centromere looked at her milky-white, unguised arm. "It tore?"

"Yes, it tore,” Marissa said disdainfully. "You might have mentioned that guises are prone to tearing. Or did you forget to, just like you 'forgot’ to tell me about the Tunnel of Fire?”

"Wait a minute. Did you use the guising dagger to stab the McMagicspell?"

"Of course I did.”

"And did it kill him?"

Marissa shook her head. "No.”

"What? You stabbed him and he didn't die? Well, there you go. That's why it tore. A guise won't set unless the McMagicspell you stabbed to acquire it has died. As long as he's still alive your guise will be frail. And since yours has torn, sooner or later you'll--"

"Oh no!" Marissa interrupted. "I'm not going to have to go back to the Tunnel of Fire, am I?" she said in a fearful tone.

Chumicks despise the Tunnel of Fire. Imagine having to sit in a furnace for half an hour, flames burning every inch of your body but not consuming at all. That's what it's like. Alas, that is the consequence of a Chumick residing in the mortal world without a guise.

"An incomplete guise cannot protect you forever as a complete one can," Centromere informed. "It won't be nearly as soon as if you were totally unguised, though."

"How long will it take?" Marissa wanted to know.

"It's hard to say. Judging by the amount of guise that has been stripped, it could take anywhere from a few months to several years. Any day in the future you could find yourself falling into the fire again."

Marissa appeared to be sullen. But then she said, "Well, at least I'll have some time to get help from the Society."

“The Society?" Centromere wondered. "Wait, do you mean the Society of Chumicks in London? The one I told you about?"

Marissa nodded. "That would be the one, yes."

_ Society of Chumicks in London? _ Courtney thought.  _ What’s that all about? _

“That's your plan? Your plan is to go to the Society?"

“I have to,” Marissa said. “I can’t go and get the McMagicspell magic as I am. I don’t even have any real powers. If I go to the Society, they can help me fix my guise. Then, after that's taken care of, they can help me build up powers. Once I'm powerful enough, I'll return to Baltimore to...oh, let's just say to take care of some unfinished business. Then, when all is out of the way, I’ll take the magic, and you and I will divide it between ourselves.”

Courtney knew what Marissa's "unfinished business" was, and she didn't particularly like to think about it.

"But that will take a long time!" Centromere raged, obviously having no faith whatsoever in Marissa being able to get any of that done very soon.

"Tough."

Centromere's crimson eyes widened. "What did you say?"

"You heard me. I said TOUGH, Centromere."

For a minute they just stared at each other silently.

"Do me a favor, would you Centromere? Marissa said at last. "That contract you got there? Read it."

"What?"

"Read it. Out loud. I want you to read it for me."

Centromere sorted. "Fine." He unrolled the scroll he held and began to read it out loud: "I hereby agree that once I have entered the mortal world through the portal that Centromere shall open for me, and have retrieved the McMagicspell magic, I shall then be automatically transported back to the dimension through a second portal, at which time I shall divide half of the magic with Centromere. I shall then be returned to the mortal world with my half. In agreeing to this, I automatically am given rights to the guising dagger, which I plan to use to become guised." He looked up from the scroll at her. "And below this," he said, "is your signature."

"See? There you have it. Nowhere on that contract does it say that I  _ must _ retrieve the magic. All it says is that when I do, half of it is yours. So, basically the contract leaves it up to me to go and get the magic whenever I want.”

Centromere’s eyes widened and shot back to the scroll. She was right, of course. Centromere snarled fiercely and bared his teeth, without moving his eyes up from the writing. It was his fault. His mistake. And it was irreversible.

"You're angry because you know I'm right," Marissa rankled him further. "You know you screwed up on that contract, and now there's nothing you can do about it.”

Centromere sent Marissa a look of intense hatred. He was practically pulsating with fury. Normal people don't like it when someone gets the better of them. But an evil Chumick? He must have been a volcano.

"Oh, and by the way," Marissa said with a heartless smile. "Thank you. You've confirmed my suspicions. I know it's true now. You were mortal once. You had to have been. A millennium-old Chumick wouldn't be as impatient as you are. You'll get your half of the magic, Centromere. Just not this year."

"You won't be able to find the Society," he told her. "It's hidden. No one has ever been able to find it since it began hundreds of years ago."

"You  _ would _ say that, wouldn't you?"

Marissa walked around the side of the bed and proceeded to put her glove and blazer back on.

Centromere may have been right about the Society being too well hidden for Marissa to ever be able to find it, but from the look of things, they could have easily just been words. One thing was sure, however. Centromere was bewildered. He was not used to losing, and definitely never would have guessed that Marissa, of all beings, would ever be able to outsmart him. But she had. He had lost. She had won. And there was nothing he could do about it.


	17. Chapter 17

Well, there  _ was _ maybe one thing he could do. He could try to reason with her.

"Why can't you just stab the McMagicspell again? And this time kill him?"

Marissa sighed. "Well, if I really must explain EVERYTHING to you, I've already done that once, and he survived. I don't know how, but he did. If he could survive the first time, then I’m not so sure he can’t survive the second time. It’s because I’m still here in Baltimore that this has happened to my arm. I should have left a long time ago to be safe. At least as I am I have time. If I go and try to stab him again, things could get worse for me. More could end up getting torn off. You don't realize how powerful they are."

"They? Who's they?" Centromere wanted to know.

"Marvin McMagicspell and his teenager friends."

Centromere's jaw fell. Then he smiled. Then he laughed. Loudly. "Ah, ha ha ha ha! Teenagers? You're worried about teenagers? Hold it, you're telling me that the only thing keeping the magic safe is a bunch of kids? That's what you're afraid of? Are they even McMagicspells?"

Courtney gasped. It hit her right then. Marissa knew about the Magic Makers, but she obviously had never let Centromere know since he was only just now hearing about them. If he knew all about them like Marissa did, that would definitely not be a good thing.

"Hello? I asked you a question. Are you going to answer me?"

Marissa might have been offended by Centromere's remark about being afraid of a bunch of kids--as if that's all they were--but she wasn't paying attention to him. She wasn't even looking at him. She stood poised and attentive, as though she was listening really hard for something.

"No," she finally answered. "Only Marvin is a McMagicspell. They all have McMagicspell powers, though. Did you hear that?"

“Hear what?”

_ Uh-oh, _ Courtney thought. Marissa had heard her gasp.

Marissa knew that one of Marvin's teen friends possessed the power to become invisible. Any second now she 'd begin to suspect.

And suspect she did. Marissa's eyes widened. "She's here," she hissed.

Courtney's heart began beating rapidly.

"Who's here?"

Courtney knew she had to do something, and fast. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't just run out of the motel room and leave Marissa there to tell Centromere all about the Magic Makers. But if she stayed she could get killed.

Marissa moved straight at Courtney. She was heading in the direction that she had heard the sound come from. Courtney quietly stepped to the side, and Marissa passed her by. Marissa stopped at the wall and looked in both directions, then began to walk around the room, listening hard for another sound that would betray the invisible girl's presence. Courtney silently shrunk into the corner. She was growing more and more afraid by the second. She wanted to scream.

"Okay," Centromere said, breaking the spell, "I can tell you think that somebody's here, but obviously there isn't, so stop pacing and tell me more about these teenagers.”

Courtney stood at the farthest wall near the motel room window. She could see the door that led outside. There was a clear path to it. Just a quiet little walk over, open the door, and make a break for it. By the time Marissa noticed, it would be too late for her to do anything--except give chase.

_ Enough, _ Courtney demanded of herself.  _ Concentrate on getting Marissa and Centromere separated. He cannot know about us. _

Wait! Give chase! Of course! That was the way to get them separated. It had to work.

_ Here goes, _ she thought.  _ Don't be afraid. Remember, you’ve got powers. She doesn't. _

Courtney began walking slowly to the door. Marissa's eyes locked on her.

Courtney froze. She looked down at her body. The thing that she had been most afraid would happen, had happened. She was visible again.

Courtney screamed! “AAAAAHHHHH!!!”

Marissa pulled out the dagger and charged at her like the homicidal maniac she was. Little more than panic was going on in Courtney's mind right then, so she fled to the window. But before she could even throw open the curtain, Marissa was at her back. Courtney spun around and dodged the dagger just as Marissa 's hand was sending it at her. Instead of Courtney, the dagger impaled the curtain. Marissa dragged it down, ripping a great gash in the fabric.

Courtney tried grabbing the dagger from Marissa's hand. Success! She had it!

"Get back," she ordered, holding the dagger out in front of her, "or I'll tear your guise even more than it already is!"

Marissa obeyed and slowly backed away.

Now what? She had to get out of there. Piece of cake, now that she had the weapon and Marissa didn't. But would Marissa follow her unarmed? If Courtney ran to the door, dropped the dagger, and kept going, then Marissa might pick it up and chase her. It wasn't much of a plan, but time to think of something better was inconveniently short.

Courtney made a fake throwing gesture with her right arm that was holding the dagger. Marissa turned as if to go grab it when it landed, and Courtney darted forward. But Marissa was on to her scheme in a second, and jumped right in her way. They slammed into one another and toppled onto the floor. The dagger fell from Courtney's hand and landed a few feet away.

The two of them grappled onto each other as they rolled this way and that, wrestling each other on the floor. The dagger was close enough that either of them could have gotten to it if they could have gotten away. But neither of them was going to let the other get away, that was for sure.

Then, Marissa rolled on top of Courtney, grabbed her black bangs, and slammed her head against the floor. It was carpet, so it didn't hurt that much, but it was enough to make her let go of Marissa and disorient her for a few moments. Marissa climbed off of her, reached for the dagger, and picked it up. She got to her feet.

Courtney, still dazed on the floor, tried to move away. But it was a dead end. The door was in the other direction, and Marissa was standing right in the way.

Courtney screamed. “AAAAAHHHHH!!!” She held her arms crossed in front of her face just as Marissa took a good grip on the knife handle and sent its double blade down straight at her.

How much would it hurt? How much damage would it do?

A few seconds passed. No stab.

Why was it suddenly so quiet?

Courtney moved her arms away from her eyes. Marissa was towering above her, dagger in hand, perfectly frozen.

Courtney let out a great sigh of relief.

"Geez, what is this?" she said angrily as she stood up. "I feel like I’m in one of those  _ Scream _ movies!"

"In here," she heard Annette say from outside. "I heard her scream come from this room. Oh, I hope we're not too late."

"I'm in here, you guys!" she called as she took a few steps closer to the door. She turned around and looked at Marissa again.

She saw the portal. For a minute she'd forgotten that Centromere was still there. He was looking at Courtney, and he obviously wasn't frozen. This made sense. Kirk's power freezes earth's time, or the mortal world's time, I should say. Centromere wasn't in the mortal world. He was in another dimension.

José sublimed and stepped through the motel room door.

"Are you okay, Courtney?" he asked as he opened the door for the others.

"Yes, thank God. If it hadn't been for Kirk's powers…”

Everyone piled into the motel room. Including Abey, who sat perched on Kirk's shoulder.

"I can't believe you guys came," Courtney said with a sudden smile.

"We all got doggie bags," Annette told her. "We just couldn't let you go it all alone."

Then she saw the portal. They all saw it.

Annette gasped and put her hand over her mouth. Kirk said a vulgar word.

José pointed. “Is that a...Chumick?”

Marvin nodded soberly. “Yep.”

"What's going on?” Kirk asked Courtney. "Why aren't you invisible?”

"I was for a while," Courtney informed, "but then I just suddenly stopped."

"What?" Annette said. "How could that happen?"

"All powers have limits," said Abey.

Courtney put her hand on her head clearly exhausted by everything. "Look, I'll fill you guys in on everything later, but in the meantime--"

The minute was up. Marissa stabbed into the carpet, then quickly pulled it out. She looked around furiously.

"She's gone. She disappeared!"

She turned and saw the Magic Makers.

For a minute no one said anything. Marissa and Centromere just stood there and looked at the Magic Makers and they looked back at them.

Marissa held the dagger forward. "Get out of my way!"

She charged at them, running past Centromere’s portal. Kirk made her a statue again.

Centromere, of course, remained unfrozen. He cocked an eyebrow and looked at Kirk, then Marissa, then Kirk again. He was looking specifically at his hands, wondering just how he could have done it.

"Oh no,” Courtney said, feeling intense dread right then. "You guys--"

"Unfreeze, Kirk." Marvin boldly stepped forward. "I got it."

Time restarted. Marvin waved his hand at Marissa as she charged, throwing out an energetic thrust that sent her flying in the other direction. She slammed into the wall by the window.

Marissa got up again, her face flushed with even more anger.

Annette touched Marvin's arm. "I've got it this time."

Marissa charged again. Annette levitated in the air, spun around swiftly, and extended her foot for a powerful  _ Matrix _ -style kick when...

SLASH! Marissa swiped her with the guising dagger.

"OW!"

Annette fell to the floor. Marissa ran for the door.

Annette's friends all surrounded her at once. "Annette, are you okay?" they asked with concern.

"I'm fine. It's just a little cut above my ankle. But she ripped my jeans!"

"Marissa!" Marvin said as she opened the door and ran out. "She's getting away!"

Courtney grabbed his arm and held him in his spot. "Let her go."

"What?

"We've got other problems right now."

They all returned their focus to Centromere. He was smiling.

"Teenagers. How very interesting."

He waved his hand and the portal vanished.

Marissa and Centromere were gone, and the Magic Makers were alone. Marissa had hardly said anything to him about them. He'd seen it all for himself.


	18. Chapter 18

The man behind the front desk was kind enough to give Annette a band-aid for her cut from the motel's first aid kit. After she put it on, the five of them assembled out in the motel's parking lot under a street light next to the car.

"I hate Marissa. These are really good jeans. I bought them at Guess just a couple of weeks ago, and now I have to throw them away."

"Can't you just sew them up?" José offered.

Courtney scoffed. "That'd be cheap."

"Excuse me," Marvin interrupted, "but in case any of you didn't notice, Marissa has gotten away from us for the...oh, what is it now? The THIRD time?"

"And probably the last," Courtney said. "I heard her tell Centromere that she's leaving the country soon. She's planning on going to England."

"Centromere," Kirk said as he read the scroll Marissa had left behind. "I see. So he's the one who's been helping her."

“‘Helping’ isn't even the word," said Courtney. "Chumicks don't do charity. They bargain. Marissa's bargain with Centromere was that half of the McMagicspell magic would be his if he gave her the guising dagger so she could kill Marvin and go get it. But Marvin's still alive, and that's why her guise tore. And now she's on her way out of here. She's actually afraid of us.”

“Hold on one minute here.” Marvin put up a finger. “Why exactly is Marissa going to England?"

"I guess Centromere told her about some society of guised Chumicks in London and now she wants to go join it so she can fix her guise and build up powers."

Marvin threw up his hands. "Oh, great. And while she's at it she'll probably tell every Chumick she meets about us Magic Makers. Heck, even if she tells just one of them it 'll spread around like crazy. Terrific. You see? We should never have let her get away. And now it might be too late."

"I doubt she'll tell anybody, Marvin. I really do. And I'm not just saying that because I’m hoping beyond all hope that she keeps quiet. If she told another Chumick that all the McMagicspell  magic is together in one place, in an attic in a house in Baltimore, guarded only by a talking pigeon...well, that would be like one forty-niner telling another forty-niner about a huge claim of gold he found somewhere but hasn't mined out yet, just so that the other guy can go and grab it before the guy that found it first even has a chance. Marissa's not that stupid."

"What does football have to do with this?" Kirk wanted to know.

Courtney rolled her eyes. “I'm talking about the 1849 California Gold Rush you moron. Geez, don't you ever pay attention in history class?"

"She makes a good point," José commented.

"That Kirk is a moron?" Courtney remarked. "Thank you, José. But there's more than that, you know. There's no guarantee that Marissa will even be able to find the Society. Centromere said that it's been well hidden for hundreds of years."

Marvin didn't seem to have much to say now.

"It's all right, Marvin," Abey said. "I know you wish there was more you could do, but some things just can't be altered. No matter what happens, Chumicks are going to show up. And many of them will have intentions that are different from Marissa and Centromere’s."

"And what are we supposed to do in the meantime?" Kirk asked.

"How about we get on with our lives?" Courtney suggested. "Item number one on the agenda? Go home and sleep. We've all got school tomorrow, and I've got cheerleader tryouts."

"Oh my gosh, that's right," said Annette. "I forgot all about the tryouts."

"Our first Varsity practice is tomorrow too," said Kirk.

"Well then, everybody in the car," said José.

Kirk took everyone home, starting with Courtney because she lived closest. Before she went inside her house, she turned to Kirk and said, "Hey, sorry about what I said earlier. You're not a moron."

Annette, Marvin, and José all let out a big "Aaawww” at the same time.

Courtney and Kirk looked at them, horrified.

Courtney looked at Kirk again. "On second thought, you are a moron. And you walk like a Basset Hound."

"You look like one," Kirk said with a smile.

"You smell like one."

Courtney laughed and ran inside.


	19. Chapter 19

Life carried on as normal for the next few days. Marvin didn't talk to Clair at all (too chicken), but she did wave at him from a distance between periods six and seven on Thursday, and he almost fainted. Also, as it turned out, both Courtney and Annette did fine at the tryouts, and both of them were picked.

Kirk--as well as the other nine players on the Falstaff Academy Varsity Knights basketball team--was given a uniform consisting of blue shorts and a blue numbered jersey with his last name sewn on the back in silver letters. The whole team wore their uniforms for their first game, which took place on Tuesday of the next week.

The cheerleaders showed up in the gym also, wearing their new cheering outfits and carrying their pompons. They had worked on their cheers for a week and were ready to show some of them off for the first time.

José, Jason, and Dante had come to see the inaugural pre-season game too. And, of course, Marvin was there. He was the most excited. Naturally. It was a real honor to be friends with three people who were going out there in front of the crowd and being the best they could be.

And yet, at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

_ Enough of that, _ he told himself.  _ Just be happy for them. _

Marvin cheered loudly when Kirk made a three-pointer, clapped when Annette did a cartwheel, and smiled when Courtney busted a move that, quite honestly, only Courtney could bust.

Midway through the second quarter, he began to feel a little thirsty. He got up from his front-row seat and went to the drinking fountain near the entrance of the gym. One person was there getting a drink, a girl with her hair put up. He waited for her to finish. He didn't realize who she was until she turned around.

"Hi Marvin,” Clair said cheerfully.

Marvin almost had a heart attack. "Clair! Oh, Wow. Hi! How Are you? Your hair looks nice.”

“Thanks. I'm fine, I guess. Just here to see the Knights do their stuff. Your friend Kirk is pretty hot, huh?"

For a moment, Marvin was horrified. What did she mean by "hot"?

"At the game, I mean," she clarified before he'd even said anything. "He's hot at the game."

"Oh, yeah," Marvin said, relieved. "He's got game all right."

"So, how are you doing?"

"Oh, all right. You know, been worse."

She nodded. "That's good. Well, I'm gonna go back to where I was sitting. I guess I'll see you later?"

"Absolutely," he said with a giant smile.

"All right, then. Take care."

Clair walked off and Marvin got his drink.

When he'd finished, he turned and almost smacked right into Dante. His face didn't look very friendly, so saying "Hello, Dante" didn't seem like the very best idea.

"I saw that," Dante said in his standard unfriendly tone.

"What are you talking about?"

Dante was almost as tall as Marvin, maybe an inch or so shorter. But at that moment, standing eye to eye, Dante seemed to be towering over him.

"Look, whatever ideas you might have, just put them away. There is no way that Clair would be interested in someone as boring as you."

Marvin's face got hot. It took every ounce of self-control he had inside of him to keep from using his power to throw Dante fifteen feet through the air to fall against the wooden floor of the gym.

Then it hit him. He realized what Dante's motivation was. He liked Clair too. Imagine, Marvin Mannix and Dante Desoto, enemies for no apparent reason, both liking the very same girl. How weird is that?

Marvin felt like saying,  _ “Boring? How would you know? You don't know me at all!" _

But he didn't say anything. He just stood there, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth.

Since Marvin wasn't talking, Dante said something else: "You know what? I have absolutely no clue what José and Kirk and Courtney and Annette could possibly see in you that they'd want to hang out with a dork like you."

"Maybe they're dorks too," Marvin replied.

_ Why did I say that? _ he thought just after the sentence had come out of his mouth. Basically he had just said that only dorks would want to hang out with him.  _ Geez. Great argument, Marvin. _

"We'd rather be dorks than be like you," he quickly added before Dante could make a remark.

"Like me?" said Dante. "You mean someone that matters?"

He turned around and faced the interior of the gym, where the game was still going on and folks were cheering their support.

"Take a good look at your friends, Marvin."

Marvin looked, and he saw what he saw before. Courtney and Annette delivering their cheers. Kirk dribbling the ball under his legs before passing it behind his back to another player on the team named Karl--some thing Marvin knew he had no skill to do.

"They matter," Dante said as he faced Marvin again. "And pretty soon they'll realize that you don’t, and then you can say goodbye to them. As for José, I’ve kinda had to teach him how to be somebody that matters, but pretty soon he'll also figure out that you’re a waste of time."

Marvin stared down at the carpet. He was remembering his dream from a week ago. The one where his four friends each got a prize for being amazing, while he got the loser's prize. Everything that Dante had just said was true. Not only was it true, but he had known it all along. For crying out loud, even his subconscious had known it!

Marvin no longer clenched his fists or gritted his teeth. He just stared sadly at the floor. Dante smiled cruelly at having successfully put him down, and turned and walked back into the gym.

After a few moments, Marvin raised his head again.  _ What am I thinking? Gosh, I can’t believe I’d even listen to him. He is so superficial. So what if I don’t get up in front of people and put on a show like my friends do? That doesn’t make me a waste of time. How dare he, saying I don’t matter. I  _ do _ matter. I matter more than he does. I’m Marvin McMagicspell. The leader of the Magic Makers. That says a whole lot more than being a drummer in a punk band does. _

_ Then why aren’t you more popular than he is? _ he silently argued with himself.

_ Because unlike the master drummer, nobody ever sees my talent, _ he answered himself.  _ Nobody sees me using magic spells and psychokinesis to kick Chumick butt, so nobody can admire me and cheer me on and put a crown of popularity on my head. _

_ I ought to just go back in there, walk right up to Dante, and show him what I can do. Show everybody. Then we’ll see who thinks I don’t matter. We’ll see who thinks I’m boring. _

Marvin felt a jolt of surprise with himself. He couldn't believe he had just thought that. To show everybody in the whole school who he really was would be a major mistake. Exposure was the reason the McMagicspells had had to come to America in the first place.

So then Dante was right. He really was boring. And the only thing interesting about him was something he couldn't show anybody.

Marvin didn't want to be there anymore, so he turned and started for the gym doors, opened them, and walked outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Google Lens read “You know, been worse” as “been woise”. Wow. My silly little book about teens with magic powers turned into a 1930s gangster novel all of a sudden.  
> What the heck, Google Lens? At least “worse” is actually a word! Ha ha.


	20. Chapter 20

Marvin used his cell phone to dial home and ask his dad to come and pick him up from the school. He came in no time and Marvin was gone.

As soon as Marvin had walked through the front door of his house, he went immediately to the attic. He burst through the door, threw open the book, and began turning its pages violently.

Abey noticed the angry look on Marvin's face and asked: "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he snapped. "I'm doing magic. And why not? I can't do anything else. This is the only thing that I'm really good at, so I might as well use it the best can.”

"What are you looking for?"

"I don't know! What is this, Twenty Questions? But now that you mention it, I think I'll look for something I can use on Dante Desoto. Maybe there's a spell that can turn him into a toad or something."

"Marvin, that's enough. Stop talking like that. You are not a witch."

That got him to stop. For a moment he just stood there, not saying a word. Then he slammed the book shut and sat down on the attic floor by the fireplace. He folded his arms on his knees and with his eyes shut rested his forehead against them.

Abey could tell something wasn't right, so he flapped down from his rafter above and landed on the floor next to Marvin.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking up at his human friend.

Marvin raised his head and sighed. "Right now, not really."

"Oh no. Has that Dante Desoto person been giving you a hard time?"

"He told me to dream on and that Clair would never be interested in me," Marvin said in reply.

“Who?” Abey wondered. “Oh, yeah, that girl you like. Continue.”

“Turns out he likes her too.”

"Well then of course he would say that," Abey reasoned. "He's just jealous and insecure. Don't listen to him, Marvin. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

This might have helped, but Marvin had more to say.

"That's not the only thing. Abey, look at me."

"I am looking at you."

"I'm the only Magic Maker who isn't good at anything. You know it's true. The others have such great talents and I...well, the only thing I can do doesn't benefit  _ me _ all that much."

"Well," Abey said after a moment of silence, "they say that a talent is more than just a skill. It's something that's inside you, that's part of you. Maybe, being a McMagicspell, you're so full up with magic--and one of the most powerful kinds of magic, I might add--that there isn't much room left in you for other talents. Maybe that means you should build up your McMagicspell talents. There’s a reason that you found this attic. It’s your destiny."

"You're right," Marvin said, not at all somberly. "You're right. But still, I just..." He sighed again. "I know it's stupid and superficial, but I just wish there was  _ something _ I could do that people would praise me for. At least then I might not feel so far beneath my friends."

Abey understood. The room was silent for a minute or so. Then he said: "Want me to fly over to Dante's house and tell him to leave you and your girl alone or else I'll curse him?"

Marvin smiled like Abey knew he would. "Enough with the evil talking bird spirit stuff. It's been done.”

Marvin left the attic to start on his homework.

Just as he was finishing up his science assignment, his dad called from downstairs.

"Marvin! Your friend Kirk is here!"

_ The game must be over, _ he thought to himself as he got up from his bed.

Marvin went downstairs and found Kirk standing in the foyer, still in his uniform. He invited him into the parlor.

"So, what's up?" Marvin asked as he sat down on the sofa.

"You know what's up," Kirk said, taking the armchair. "You left in the middle of the game. I'm not saying my feelings are hurt or anything like that, I'm just concerned, is all. I mean, Coach Nick had just taken me out and put Seth in for me, and as I sat down, I saw you talking to Dante by the entrance, and then all of a sudden you turned around and left and I didn't see you again. You looked upset. What did he say to you?"

"He told me that I'm boring. He said that I'm a dork and I don't matter."

"What?" Kirk couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "Oh, come on. Don't tell me you listened to that jerk."

"Kirk, he's right. I am boring. I am. Think about it. First there's you, Kirk, Mr. basketball pro. And then Courtney and Annette, Falstaff cheerleaders. And José, the leader of the punk band Mystilogical. And then there's me. I'm the only Magic Maker who isn't good at anything.”

"Not good at  _ anything _ ? Hello?" He pointed a finger at the ceiling. "Remember that attic up there? Remember that big book and that cauldron and all those jars and bottles of things like butterwort and saffron and bile of llama?"

"You just don't get it, do you?" Marvin said in a frustrated tone. "Look, I love McMagicspell, I really do. But McMagicspell isn't going to win me popularity, now is it?"

Kirk just stared at him. "That's what this is about? Marvin, there are so many things that are more important."

"This coming from the main scorer of the Falstaff Varsity Knights. I knew you wouldn't understand.”

Marvin got up and left the room. Kirk followed.

"Marvin, wait."

He stopped, but he didn't turn around. He kept his back turned.

"Look, I'm sorry. I do understand. Let me just say a couple of things, okay? I am really proud to be your friend. You're Marvin McMagicspell. You're part of a family that has spent more than a millennium fighting evil and saving people’s lives. Do you have any idea how much that impresses me?”

Marvin smiled a little. It was a good thing to hear.

Kirk walked around Marvin and stood in front of him. "I think that what you already are--a McMagicspell--is better than anything else by far."

Marvin looked down at the wooden floor. "Then why doesn't it feel like it?"

Kirk tilted his head slightly in confusion.

"Yeah, I'm a McMagicspell. But what's to show for it? Sure, I may have been a big shot with my powers to begin with, but now that you guys have caught on, Courtney and Annette have been the ones kicking Marissa's butt. And what have I done? I've had her stab me in the back, that's what."

"Marvin, that isn't fair. We're a team. A team that you appointed. All of us have to fight, not just you. And just because you weren't the main contender in the last couple of battles, that doesn't mean you never will be again."

Marvin sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I know. I'm sorry. Look, I just need some alone time, okay?"

"Are you sure?”

"Yes. I'll be fine. You'll see me at school tomorrow and we'll have lunch at our table and everything will be the same."

"All right. I guess I'll go then." Kirk put his hand on Marvin's shoulder. "Remember, I’m always here for you."

“Thanks.”

  
Kirk left then, and Marvin began to walk back up the stairs. As he climbed them, he thought,  _ Yeah, everything will be exactly the same. The Magic Makers will still be around to fight the bad guys, and their leader will still be the same ordinary fellow with nothing more to say to Clair than to smile and wave stupidly at her in passing. Yep, everything will be just the same. _


	21. Chapter 21

"Our fourth prize is for the most popular. And we all know who that is. Dante Desoto!"

"What?” Marvin said from his seat in the dream auditorium. “Last time it was José!"

Dante went up to the stage to take the trophy and everyone cheered (everyone but Marvin, that is). He was also given a crown and a bouquet of roses and a huge bag of cash.

Marvin rolled his eyes. "Aw, geez. That is way over the top."

"And now the final prize. You're not gonna want this one, but hey, somebody has to have it. It is for the biggest loser."

"Great. Here we go again," Marvin lamented.

"But who am I to choose?" Mr. Jeffreys said. "Naturally the most popular person would be the one to decide who the biggest loser is. Well...who is it, Dante?"

"Why, Mr. J, it's none other than Marvin Mannix."

Everyone in the auditorium pointed fingers at Marvin and laughed.

Sheldon showed up at Marvin's seat and took him by the arm. "Come on, Marvin! You have to come collect your prize!"

"Oh, that is it!"

Marvin forced Sheldon off of him and ran up to the stage. Dante watched him with a haughty grin. Marvin threw out his right arm, intending to throw Dante hard and fast against the wall at the back of the stage. But nothing happened. Dante stayed standing where he was.

Suddenly Marvin realized with horror that his necklace was gone--and Dante was wearing it!

Dante threw out  _ his _ arm then, and Marvin cried out as he flew up and backwards, high over the heads of the students in the auditorium. Then he began to come down…

He was about to land when he opened his eyes and saw his bedroom ceiling.

Marvin put his hand on his chest and breathed. "Funny how dreams of falling always end right before you hit bottom."

He looked at the clock on the wall. It was an hour earlier than the time he usually got out of bed. He sat up.

"Why must my dreams repeat themselves?" he said to no one. "Do they think I'm going to forget?"

It was no use trying to go back to sleep, so Marvin went up to the attic. He did it quietly so as to not wake up Abey. He opened the book and began to page through it. He wasn't looking for anything in particular.

Marvin stopped on a page in the definitions section. MAGICAL BADGE OF HONOR was what had caught his eye. He read on:

_...A magical badge of honor is a thing that every McMagicspell ought to have. Its uses are many, and once magically bonded to its wearer, cannot be removed by any but the wearer himself (or herself). Treasure your magical badge of honor as if losing it would be to die and never be revived. _

"Boy, this book sure has a way of being poetic. I wonder which McMagicspell wrote this." Marvin placed his hand on the "M" of his magic necklace. "I wonder if this could be considered a magical badge of honor?”

"Sure it could," Abey said.

Marvin looked up. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't. I was already awake. Birds wake with the sun, don't you know that?"

"Then shouldn't you be singing right about now?"

"Oh, you don’t want to hear me sing. Trust me."

Marvin smiled. "The book says every McMagicspell should have a magical badge of honor. Good thing I have one, I guess."

"Yes, very good. More than words can say," Abey remarked. "The McMagicSpells knew about the magic necklaces long before you ever opened the box. They just never chose to elaborate on the subject, is all."

"Well, I've got an hour till I have to get ready for school. I think I'll cast a spell." Marvin paged further through the book. "The rose bushes out back are dormant right now. I think I’ll make them bud, just a little."

"Careful," Abey advised. "Play with the seasons too much and by tomorrow it'll seem like it's July again."

"And that'd be a shame. All the incoming winter fashions would be of no use."

* * *

When Marvin's friends showed up a while later, they each gave him an unsure look. He smiled so they'd know everything was cool, and they all smiled back.

Marvin's day at school was pretty okay. None of his teachers gave him homework, except for Mrs. Vance, the history teacher. It was slightly warmer outside than usual, which may have been because of the spell Marvin had cast that morning. Or It may have just been a coincidence.

The most shocking thing that happened that day by far, however, happened just as Marvin was getting out of fifth period history. Usually he went straight to the cafeteria at that time to meet his friends at their table for lunch, but as he walked out of Mrs. Vance's classroom, Coach Nick stood in his way.

"Hi. Marvin Mannix, right?"

"Yes."

"Great. Could I see you in the gym, please?" He seemed awfully anxious.

"Uh, sure."

Marvin followed Coach Nick as he walked through the school to where the gym was. He was slightly confused as to what this was all about. What did the coach want?

Nick opened the gym and the two of them went inside. Marvin stood out in the middle of the court while Nick went and got two basketballs from the storage room. He bounce-passed one to Marvin.

"Stand at the free throw line. Let me see you make a shot."

Marvin shrugged and did as told. He missed big time. Total air ball.

"That's all right. Try again." Nick passed him the other ball.

Marvin shot. At least this time the ball hit the backboard.

The upper right hand corner of the backboard.

Marvin bit his nails and blushed. Nick pulled at his collar.

Marvin hated to look bad. And right now, he really did. He had no clue what this was about, but he didn't want to leave with Nick thinking he was a bad shot. Which he was.

"Mr. Levine?"

"Please, call me Nick."

"Right, Nick. Can I try that again?"

"Sure." Nick passed one of the balls to Marvin again.

Marvin stood firmly on the free throw line. He kept his eyes glued on the hoop, then, narrowing his eyelids intensely, he focused them hard on the backboard area. This time he'd make it for sure.

Marvin threw the ball. Before it was even halfway there, it was no longer just flying freely through the air. Something was holding it, propelling it. Something quite invisible. It had fallen into the field of psychokinetic energy which was presently flowing from Marvin's eyes.

The ball reached the hoop and went in. Nothing but net.

Nick's eye brows rose. Marvin smiled.

"Whoa! Good job. Can you do that again?”

"Sure can,” Marvin said, holding his smile.

Nick passed a ball to Marvin and he did the same as before. And, as before, the ball went right in.

It was really no trick at all. At least not for someone with PK. The ball really never left his control. Psychokinesis is like a long invisible arm that shoots out of your eyes. So, since Marvin never really let go of the ball, it was just as easy as if he had climbed up a stepladder and dropped the ball in from directly above. Best of all, the ball made it to the hoop in a line so straight and smooth that you would never guess he had used any kind of special powers to get it there.

Coach Nick had Marvin do it again three more times, and each time was the same. On the fourth additional time, Marvin stepped back to the half court line. It was a bit trickier from this distance (even PK has a distance limit), but it went in anyway. As the ball fell and bounced around the gym floor, Marvin smiled with pride.

"You're pretty good!" the coach said with enthusiasm. "Although I noticed you squint when you shoot. Are you nearsighted?"

"Oh, well, yeah, a little bit," Marvin lied. He really isn't nearsighted at all.

"I guess that's why the first two were so far off. Your eyes were wide open those times."

"Yeah, that must be why."

"How come you didn't come to the tryouts?"

Uh-oh. The tryouts? What was he getting at?

"Oh, I don't know. I guess I forgot."

"You forgot?"

“I mean...I just never thought I was a team player type person," Marvin rambled. "Or something like that.”

"Not a team player, huh? Well, this is going to change. Marvin, I'd like to see you again this afternoon, if you don't mind."

"This afternoon? When? Where? Why?"

"Just after school, here in the gym. I'll have the office call your parents to tell them you have practice."

"Practice?"

"From now on, you are an official Falstaff Academy Varsity Knight."

Coach Nick left the gym and Marvin remained standing where he was. He stayed put for what seemed to be several minutes. The feeling he felt then was neither good nor bad, but simply a feeling of complete and total shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Google Lens read “I’ve got an hour till I have to get ready for school” as “I’ve got a hoe”.
> 
> No further comment.


	22. Chapter 22

_ Ha ha, good one, Kirk. Me on a sports team? I don’t think so. It’s never happened and it never will. I’m no good at sports. _

He'd said that last week. And last night he’d said:  _ McMagicspell isn't going to win me popularity, now is it? _

Apparently, he'd been wrong. McMagicspell  _ could _ win him popularity, and in a way he had never even considered. Here he was, having a golden opportunity handed to him. He'd missed the tryouts, but Coach Nick had come to him, and now, bada bing, bada boom, he was on the basketball team. And the Varsity team at that! Not Junior Varsity, but  _ Varsity _ . Only the best players got to be on Varsity. And him being only a freshman!

But why had the coach decided he wanted to see Marvin, of all people? That was the real question. Did Coach Nick somehow know about Marvin's magic powers?

_ That's ridiculous, _ Marvin thought.  _ How could he know? _

Then it hit him: It was Kirk. It must have been. After the talk they’d had last night, when Marvin confided to him that he wished he were good at something, Kirk must have gone and talked to Coach Nick and asked him if he'd give Marvin a chance and try him out. And now he’d been given that chance.

So, that afternoon after school, Marvin showed up at the gym just as Coach Nick had asked him to. Before he did, however, he had to go to the locker room to change. It was empty when he first walked in, but as he began to shuck off his school clothes and put on his P.E. uniform, others started coming in too.

It was somewhat a surprise how many there were. Not just the ten Varsity guys--ten  _ other  _ Varsity guys, that is, now that Marvin was the eleventh--but the Junior Varsity guys as well. A few of them looked at Marvin, probably wondering what he was doing there, but mostly they just did what they had come to do, which was change into their practice wear.

One of the tall players, who had a thin mustache and dark hair and was probably a junior, took a seat on the same bench as Marvin and began untying his shoes. He looked up at Marvin.

" _ Bonjour _ .”

Marvin smiled. "Hi. You're that foreign exchange student from France, aren't you?"

“ _ Oui _ .  _ Je m’appelle  _ Toussaint Bonaventure.”

Marvin's face was blank.

"Zat means, My name ees Touissant Bonaventure," he said in his rich French accent.

Marvin nodded quickly. "Oh, I see. Cool."

" _ Tu t'appelles comment _ ?”

Another blank face.

Toussaint sighed. "I said, what ees your name?”

"Oh, my name? Marvin. Marvin Mannix.”

"Marveen?  _ Très bien _ . Now, what are you doing here?"

Marvin stood up. "I'm asking myself the same question." He walked out.

As he entered the gym, he noticed that Coach Nick and JV Coach Rudy were already there, on opposite ends of the court from each other. As the other players proceeded inside, some of them headed for Nick for Varsity practice, and some headed for Rudy for the less advanced JV practice. Seeing all of these athletes here at once made Marvin nervous. Something about being surrounded by talented people had a way of making him feel inferior.

_ What  _ am _ I doing here? _ he thought, reiterating Toussaint’s question in his mind.  _ I can’t play basketball. I can barely even dribble one! I mean, sure, I can use my powers to shoot the ball, but what about everything else? _

He thought back to all of the other times he’d been forced to play basketball in P.E. class, and how he’d made a complete fool of himself. How he’d always gotten picked last, because everyone on both teams knew how uncoordinated he was, and unable to keep up with so many things going on all at once. Basketball did have its own demented way of being quick as lightning.

When Kirk came in and saw Marvin, he looked a little puzzled.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“That’s the question of the day, isn’t it,” Marvin said dryly.

_ Way to fake it, Kirk. We both know that this is happening because of you. _

If Kirk was going to pretend it wasn’t, then Marvin would pretend to be clueless. Why not?

When everyone had shown up, the coaches took roll for their teams.

“Okay, guys,” Nick said when he was done. “First of all, I want you all to know that you did a great job last night. We wouldn’t have been able to defeat West Baltimore High if it hadn’t been for your great teamwork. Keep it up.”

The team cheered their own victory.

"Second, I've got some news for you. We have a new player. In case you don't know him, his name's Marvin Mannix. I'd like you all to welcome him to the Falstaff Varsity Knights team."

Kirk's eyes lit up with enthusiasm. "You're on the team, Marvin? Awesome!" He clapped loudly.

The others followed in applause, though less enthusiastically, probably just pity clapping.

"Everyone stretch, and we'll start practice," Nick said.

All in all, it really wasn't so bad. He felt like an underdog, of course, since all the other ten guys on Varsity were light-years better than him. Still, the coach would occasionally clap his hands and say, "Good job, Marvin, good hustle," although he didn't really sound like he meant it.

The team did a few scrimmages. When someone would pass the ball to Marvin (supposing he didn't miss it), he'd always stop right there and shoot the ball from no matter where he was standing. And, with the help of his psychokinesis, it would always go in.

Then the coach would really clap, and he'd say, "All right! Way to go, Marvin!" Those times it sounded closer to real, closer to how it sounded when Coach Nick gave James, CJ, Tony, and the others encouragement.

The other guys gave encouragement too. Some would slap him five, or just pat him on the back. Some were indifferent.

One guy named Shawn Sinise was annoyingly aggressive. Not to mention pretentious. He seemed to love showing everybody how many times he could juggle the ball every which way, all while jumping up towards the hoop backwards to do an over-the-shoulder lay-up.

At least for the moment, things felt okay. They really did. Here he was, on a team, doing something that normal, everyday people enjoy doing and seeing. Sure, the only reason he was here was because of Kirk, and the only thing he could do well to help the team was shoot, and he wouldn't even be making those shots if it weren't for the McMagicspell powers; it still felt pretty cool.

_ Can’t wait for Dante to see me now, _ he thought.  _ And Clair. _

Especially Clair.


	23. Chapter 23

The next day, at her motel, Marissa was completely ready to leave the country. She had bought several new clothes for herself with the money she'd taken from the bank. She had also gotten herself a passport, as well as a one-way nonstop flight plane ticket to London, England.

She had everything packed and prepared, and was just walking out of her room door to leave for the airport, suitcases in hand, when suddenly a big, black bird appeared in the sky, flying over the motel. It was carrying a scroll in its talons, and as it flew over Marissa, it dropped it. The scroll landed right in Marissa's arms.

"Aaaah!" Marissa cried, and threw it down. She dashed back into the room and slammed the door, angry at herself for touching it.

The air in front of her opened up just then, and there stood Centromere, facing her through a portal.

"Look, Centromere," Marissa said furiously, "I haven't got any time for your petty nonsense. I have a plane to catch, so if you don't mind..."

"Oh, of course not," he responded. "But before you go, I've come to tell you that I've changed my mind. I don't want the McMagicspell magic anymore."

Marissa's eyebrows rose. "You don't?"

"No. I want the guising dagger back."

The guising dagger?

Centromere took out a scroll, unrolled it, and held it forward for Marissa to see. It said:

UPON THE RETURN OF THE GUISING DAGGER FROM MARISSA TO ME, THE ORIGINAL CONTRACT SHE SIGNED, STATING THAT HALF OF THE McMAGICSPELL MAGIC WOULD BELONG TO ME THE MOMENT SHE RETRIEVED IT, SHALL BE NULLIFIED.

And at the bottom of the new contract, Centromere's name was signed.

Marissa hesitated for a moment, then she slowly drew the dagger out. She looked at Centromere suspiciously, then at the dagger, then at Centromere again. Something wasn't right here. Why would he suddenly just give up on all the McMagicspell magic just for a stupid little dagger he couldn't even use?

"Just give it to me now, and I'll give you the contract, and then I'll never bother you again.”

Marissa hesitated again, but then she relented. "Okay," she said, holding it out. "Take it.”

"You'll have to reach inside the portal to hand it to me."

"Reach in?" Marissa said incredulously.

"Because I can't reach out, moron."

Marissa obeyed and slowly, cautiously, reached her hand into the portal.

As soon as it was inside enough, Centromere grabbed her by the wrist! She shrieked and tried to pull it back out, but he was too strong. He pulled Marissa all the way inside the portal, and then, grabbing the dagger out of her hand, plunged it straight into her heart.

"AAAAAHHH!" Marissa bellowed in agony.

In less than a second, Marissa's guise disappeared from her body and appeared on Centromere’s.

Centromere shoved Marissa onto the dimension's ground and jumped out of the portal into the motel room. By the time his feet hit the carpet, he was no longer wearing a black cloak, but a black button-down shirt, unbuttoned at the collar and untucked over a pair of dark blue jeans with black boots. His long black hair was neatly tied behind him, and with the guise over his skin, he looked like any average, mortal man who prefers wearing dark colors.

Marissa, once again white as snow, quickly stood up. "Nooooo!!!" she cried. She tried to step out of the portal, but an unseen force held her back. "Centromere! You ticked me!"

"Of course I tricked you! Did you really think I was just going to give up on the McMagicspell magic and leave it all to you? You are a fool!" Centromere held up his hand next to his right temple and snapped his fingers. His eyes changed from red to brown. “Now I am the one who is guised, and instead of getting just half of the magic, I will have all of it! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

"But I don't understand!" she said frantically. "You said the guising dagger only works on a Chumick who was mortal less than a year ago!"

“Well, if I really must explain EVERYTHING to you,” Centromere said cruelly, “a guising dagger works two ways: either on a neophyte Chumick stabbing a McMagicspell, or on any Chumick stabbing a newly guised Chumick right in the heart. Suppose I should have mentioned that, huh? Silly me."

"Noooooo!!!" she repeated, vainly pounding on the portal's solid yet invisible veil. "Let me out of here!"

Centromere grinned and waved his hand at the portal. As it closed, Marissa's cries diminished, then faded away completely.

He was alone in the room now. Marissa's guise was exactly the same on him: the left arm remained unguised. Aside from that, he looked perfectly normal. A little on the menacing side, if anyone were to give a second look, but otherwise normal. No one would have any idea he wasn't human.

Centromere left the motel with one goal in mind: to get the McMagicspell magic. Before he did that, however, he would need to find the teenagers.


	24. Chapter 24

Marvin's first game (and the team's second) was that very day, the day after his first practice. He was given a uniform by Coach Nick. It was blue like all the others, with a silver trim, and it even had the name "Mannix" printed across the back. Marvin was impressed by how quickly Coach Nick had gotten it made for him.

It also had a number on it.

"My number is five," Marvin said, holding up his jersey so Kirk could see. "Isn't that weird?”

"Why is that weird?" he wondered.

"Don't you see? Five is the number of--" He stopped and looked around the well-occupied locker room. "Well, you know. The number of us. You, me, Courtney, Annette, and José. I just think it's kind of strange and coincidental, that's all."

"Oh, I see what you’re saying," Kirk said as he laced his gym shoes. "So, ready for your first game?"

Marvin bit his lip. "I hope so. I'm really nervous. I'll try to do the best I can, but I'm still not quite sure I feel right about going out and playing in front of all those people."

"I'm sure you'll do fine. After all, you've got...you know. That thing you do with your eyes.”

"Yeah, I know, but there are other things. You know, like passing."

"You're okay at passing."

"But what about dribbling? I got the ball stolen from me about fifty times at practice yesterday. And forty-five of those times were by Shawn. I got so fed up at one point that I almost used my..." Marvin looked around the locker room again. "The thing I do with my eyes.”

“On Shawn?”

“He was asking for it.”

Kirk stood up. “Come on, let’s go outside.”

They left the locker room.

"Boy, that gets annoying," Marvin commented as they walked together toward the gym. "Having to avoid talking openly about magic when there are people around."

"Anyway, about basketball. You know, passing and dribbling and stuff. Nobody starts out perfect. It takes practice. You'll improve as time goes by."

"We'll see, won't we. Oh, and by the way..." Marvin stopped short of the gym door and stood in front of Kirk. "I was thinking...maybe it would be a smart idea to not always use my powers when I shoot the ball. Maybe I should only use them, say, half the time.”

"Really? Why?"

"Oh, a few reasons. Security is one. We don't want anyone getting suspicious. Also fairness. If I make every shot, we'll beat every school in the state and I'll become Falstaff's secret weapon."

“And that's a bad thing?"

"Of course it is. Especially because it falls under the security rule. If I become Falstaff's secret weapon, that’s just one step away from having my secret found out. Know what I mean?”

"Yeah, I get it."

“Also, I'd kinda like to see if maybe I  _ can _ make one or two shots on my own. Without the help of PK. If I can do that, my confidence oughta improve."

* * *

The Varsity players got started as soon as the JV game was finished. They would be playing against the McHenry High Varsity Rockets. Before the game began, both teams went through a few drills, some of which were still awfully complicated to Marvin. Worst of all, unlike the day before, he was now in front of an enormous crowd of spectators. As Marvin fumbled his way through the drills, doing about half a dozen things wrong, he felt like a complete fool.

And more was to come.

The game got started. The Rockets showed themselves to be quite a challenge very early into it.

“Pass eet to me!” Toussaint shouted to Mel as he was being clobbered by a burly Rocket. “To me! I am wide open!” He waved his arms madly. “Can you not see?!”

Mel ignored Toussaint and did a sort of swing and hurl, sending the ball flying in a totally different direction. Marvin quickly moved himself between the ball and the wooden floor it would bounce against in a second and caught it.

His next move was to shoot, but he wasn’t quick enough. A Rocket was on him in a flash.

Marvin saw Kirk out of the corner of his eye and bounce-passed the ball to him. He caught it, and immediately went for a lay-up. The ball bounced on the rim and fell to the side. Marvin nabbed the ball again and shot it himself, this time with no one there to block him. And as the ball was tossed up, he focused hard on it, and under the power of psychokinesis, the ball was guided straight into the hoop. Nothing but net. Two points.

The audience cheered. At least the Falstaff enthusiasts did.

At that point the cheerleaders came out to do a cheer. It went like this:

“Lord and Lady, please,

The King is beggin’ on his knees,

Lance ‘em till they’re done,

We dub thee number one,

Come on, come on,

Get that scorin’ goin’ on,

Fight! Fight!

Victory to the Knights!”

The game carried on much like this for four quarters. Each time the ball ended up in Marvin's hands, he'd tell himself,  _ Dribble it! Move around! _ or  _ Pass it to somebody! _ or  _ Shoot it yourself, don't use your powers! _ But then one of the players on the McHenry team would get in his face and scare him, and there he’d go again, flinging the ball straight at the hoop, always guiding it there with his PK.

It got to the point where it was involuntary. Like when you sneeze. You can't do it with your eyes open. Likewise, Marvin couldn't seem to make a shot without using his powers.

No matter how far off the ball was from the hoop, Marvin would always get it in. Sometimes it was so far off that the ball seemed to curve in midair. Marvin could only hope that no one noticed.

Marvin got to step out of the game at one point and have a sub fill in for him. While he was sitting and catching his breath, his eyes swept over all the people in the audience. He had hoped that Dante and Clair would be there, for obvious reasons. But he didn't see either of them.

The Knights won the game against the Rockets fifty-six to forty-eight. Ten of those points had been scored by Marvin.

When the game was over and the victory was won, everyone cheered. The audience cheered, the cheerleaders cheered, even the Knights themselves cheered.

Marvin cheered as well. It was his first Varsity basketball game ever and they had won. It was just too bad Dante and Clair hadn't been there to see it.

Although Marvin was glad about winning the game, he was a little worried about his powers. His original plan to only use his powers half the time had failed. Instead, he'd ended up using them  _ every _ time. He had tried not to, but he did it anyway. It was like he couldn't even control his own power.

Something had to be done.


	25. Chapter 25

As the crowd began to fizzle out, Marvin, Kirk, Courtney, and Annette gathered their things and started for home. José hadn't been at that game. He was probably at his house, practicing his music with Dante and Jason.

"That was an awesome game,” Courtney said as they left the school in the car.

"I'll say," Annette agreed. "When I saw Marvin out there with the guys wearing a uniform, I was like _ ‘What's he doing here?'  _ But then I realized that he was on the team, and I thought,  _ ‘How cool!’ _ ”

“You did a great job, Marvin,” said Kirk. “Without those ten points you scored, we wouldn't have won the game. Coach Nick sure must be glad he recruited you."

"You know what, Kirk?" Marvin said irritably. "You can end the charade already. I know."

Everyone's faces fell at Marvin’s sudden and unusual souness.

"Know what?" Kirk asked.

"Oh, come on. Stop pretending."

"I'm not pretending, Marvin. I seriously don't know what you're talking about."

Marvin turned and looked at him. "You mean you didn't tell Coach Nick to put me on the team?"

Kirk made a face. "What? No, I didn't tell him to put you on the team. I had no idea you were even on the team until yesterday when you came to practice."

Marvin faced forward again, perplexed. "You swear you didn't say anything to Coach about me?"

"Yes."

Marvin thought for a minute. It made no sense. There was no way that Nick would have just gone and asked to see Marvin for no reason other than that he existed. Something or someone had to have driven him to do so. But who, if not Kirk, would--

Marvin’s eyes widened.

“Keep going,” Marvin said as they neared Courtney’s street. “Take  _ me _ home first.”

“But Courtney’s house is closer than--”

“Don’t argue,” Courtney interrupted. “Keep going. Take  _ him _ home first.”

* * *

They reached Marvin's place and everyone stepped out of the car and headed into the house.

_ Of course it was Abey, _ Marvin thought as they climbed the stairs to his room and the attic. _ I talked to Kirk about wanting to be good at something, but I also talked to Abey. I talked to him first, actually. It makes perfect sense. _

The Magic Makers entered the attic. Marvin looked up at Abey.

"Abey, did you fly over to Nick Levine's house and tell him to put me on the team?"

"Um..." Abey said nervously.

He turned and began to fly out of the attic.

"Oh, no you don't!" Marvin pointed a finger at Abey and drew him back with his powers.

"Hey!” Abey cried, flapping his wings, but moving backwards towards Marvin. "What are you doing?!"

Marvin caught him in his hands. "Answer me, Abey."

"All right, all right, I admit it," Abey said with his eyes shut tight and his head turned away. "I did it. If you're going to hurt me then just get it over with."

"Why would I hurt you? You're my friend."

Abey opened his eyes and looked at Marvin.

"I just can't believe you did this-- _ again _ ."

"Again?" said Annette.

Marvin released his hold on Abey and let him fly back up to the rafter.

"Yeah. Not too long ago our resident talking pigeon used his gift to get my mom promoted."

"Really," Courtney muttered. "How interesting. Say, Abey, could you tell my math teacher to raise my grade?"

“I'm sorry," Abey said to Marvin. "I just felt sorry for you and I wanted to help."

"I appreciate that," said Marvin sincerely, "but geez, Abey, talk about hypocrisy. First you tell me to stop acting like a witch, and then you go scaring innocent people half to death."

"You're right. I deserved that."

"No wonder Nick seemed so anxious when he asked to see me yesterday."

"Gosh, Marvin," Courtney remarked, "I'd think you would be a little more happy about this. Do you know how many people would trade their Disney DVDs for a talking bird who can tell people to do things for them?"

"I  _ am _ happy," Marvin said. "I've always wanted to be on a sports team, but I just didn't have the talent. But now that I have psychokinesis, I have a new chance."

The others looked a little confused.

"So then what's the problem?" Annette inquired.

" _ Today _ is the problem. I scored ten points in today's game, and all of them were helped by magic. That wasn't my original plan. My plan was to only use my powers half the time, maybe less. I tried not to use them, but it was like I couldn't stop myself. And it's going to get worse. Did you notice how those last couple of shots I made were kinda curvy? Well, the more I use my powers, the worse of a player I'll become. The shots will get cruder, the ball's path to the net will grow curvier, and pretty soon somebody is going to figure out what's going on."

"You figured all that out after just one game?" Courtney said.

"You know, Marvin, you could just quit the team," Kirk suggested.

Marvin didn’t respond immediately, as though he hadn’t thought of that before.

“I might. Listen, you guys should go home now. I’ve got some things to work out.”

* * *

A few days passed, and before long, another game day had come. Marvin got out of bed a little earlier that morning and went up to the attic. He opened the  _ Book of Phenomena _ and flipped to a page containing a spell that would help him make his decision.

The page read: TO TEMPORARILY SUSPEND YOUR MAGICAL POWERS.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Abey asked.

"Yes, I'm sure, and don't even try to talk me out of it."

"I won't," Abey said, and left it at that.

"Interesting." Marvin scratched his chin. "This spell doesn't need ingredients, it's just an incantation."

"Well, not just anybody can use it," Abey explained. "You have to be magically empowered."

"Which I am. Okay." Marvin clasped his hands. "Here goes."

He began reading the incantation aloud:

Where peace awaits and trouble ends

A needed magic spell transcends

At this time suspend my power

To be returned at the twentieth hour

Nothing seemed to happen. He didn't see anything, hear anything, or even feel anything. He'd said the words and that was it.

Marvin focused his eyes on the  _ Book of Phenomena _ to make sure it had worked. Nothing happened. He focused extra hard. The book didn't budge.

Marvin stood back and swung out his hand for an energetic thrust. The book still stayed in its place.

Marvin smiled. "Looks like it worked."


	26. Chapter 26

Seth passed the ball to Marvin. A Genie was on him in nothing flat.

Today they were playing against the Gabriel High Genies. These guys were tough. At least Marvin thought they were.

He searched around quickly. Stone was open on the right. CJ was slightly open on the left.

Marvin dribbled the ball and took a few steps back, opening up some space. He was past the three-point line now, but the basket was in full view. He shot.

Marvin instinctively squinted, but nothing happened.

Air ball. How Embarrassing!

A Genie grabbed the ball and took it down to the other end of the court. The others all followed, Marvin as well. He was growing tired.

It went on like this for some time, that is, until Coach Nick pulled Marvin out of the game and sent in Tony.

Ironic as it is, Marvin McMagicspell was the only Magic Maker who didn't have any magic at all that day. That is, unless you count the spell that was keeping his magic locked inside. And, admittedly, it felt a little weird. It was the first time since Marvin got his powers that he didn't have any.

Kirk took a seat next to Marvin on the bench. "Hey, what's up?"

"The ceiling," he answered.

"Dude, good job."

"Why do you say that?" Marvin wondered.

"Because. You haven't made a single shot yet in this game. And you've tried at least twice. See? You had nothing to worry about. You're keeping your...you know...your  _ gift _ under wraps just fine."

Marvin decided it was time to tell Kirk what he had done. He whispered it into his ear.

“What?” Kirk demanded.

He tried to freeze time, but then he remembered he'd already done so twice in the last hour while playing the game The first time was sort of an accident, an impulse, and the second was to help Marvin out when three Genies were on him at once.

Kirk stood up and went over to Coach Nick, who was standing courtside, watching his players and occasionally pointing and shouting out orders at them.

"Coach,” Kirk said, “can Marvin and I step out for a minute?"

Nick kept his eyes on the game. "Make it quick," he said to Kirk.

Kirk led Marvin around the perimeter of the gym and into the empty entryway.

"How could you cast a spell to take your powers away?" Kirk said at last.

"Will you take it easy?" Marvin said. "It's just a temporary spell. They'll be back. I'm not sure when, but they will be."

"Well, you have to reverse it," Kirk insisted.

"I can't reverse it. It's irreversible. The spell just has to play itself out."

Kirk put his hands on his head and looked at the ceiling in frustration. "Geez, Marvin, do you know how many times your powers have been our greatest asset? If it weren't for psychokinesis, we'd have lost that first battle with Marissa. We'd all be in another dimension right now.”

"Oh, come on," Marvin argued. "We all used our powers in that fight. We're a team. There's still four other Magic Makers, you know. Besides, it's not like a Chumick is going to attack us tonight. And even if one did, you could freeze time, and Courtney and Annette could use their powers to kick the Chumick's butt.”

"Marvin, please tell me why you did this."

Marvin looked him straight in the eyes. "You know why."

"Because of basketball?" Kirk raged. "Because you don't want anyone noticing you using your magic? Geez, Marvin," he said for the second time. "Couldn't you have just quit the team?"

"I said that I might. But before I did, I wanted to do a test."

"A test?"

"Yeah. I wanted to see how well I could play without my power to help me. And...well, you've seen how I've done so far. Have you noticed how everybody keeps giving me dirty looks?" Marvin sighed. "Oh well. Guess that answers my question. Test over, hit the showers."

Kirk didn't have anything to say.

"Kirk,” Coach Nick said as he approached them. "I need you out there. Sub in for Stone."

He did as the coach told him and ran out into the court.

"While we have a minute," said Nick to Marvin, "what's the matter with you? You did so well at last week's game, and now you--"

"I stink. Yeah, I know. I Guess I'm just not feeling too well."

The coach nodded. "I see. Do you think you might want to leave?"

"Yeah. I think that'd be best."

"Okay. Go to the locker room and get changed."

Nick gave him a pat on the back and sent him off to the locker room. In a moment the entryway was empty again.

Or was it? Apparently not. From a nearby door that led into the men's restroom, a man--or what looked like one--stepped out into the entryway with an evil grin on his face. He had been listening from nearby and had heard everything.

"Perfect," Centromere said.


	27. Chapter 27

Centromere stepped quietly into the locker room and shut the door. Then he placed his hand on the doorknob. In just a few seconds, the metal knob turned bright red. It began to melt, forming into a weird, dripping-candle-like shape. A moment later the doorknob hardened again, misshapen, useless, and irreparable.

Marvin, who stood over in a comer of the large room facing a row of lockers, had just changed out of his basketball uniform and back into his regular clothes. He gathered everything he had and turned to walk out. Centromere stood in his way.

Marvin nearly jumped out of his skin. He threw out his hand impulsively, hoping to break Centromere’s backbone against the locker room's cinder block wall. But nothing happened. He'd forgotten about the spell.

Marvin looked at his hand. "Oh no," he said gravely.

"Hello, Marvin McMagicspell." Centromere smiled cruelly as he slowly neared him. "Overheard your little conversation with your pal out there. Cast a spell to remove your powers, huh?”

Marvin's mind was racing. What was Centromere doing here? How had he become guised?

"How did you find us?" Marvin demanded.

"How did I find you? Oh, it took a while. I didn't know any of your names, but I memorized your faces well enough. And after searching the schools of this city, I soon found the faces I was looking for. I've been watching you, waiting for the right time. And now what do I hear? You've stripped yourseIf of your powers! Your wonderful, powerful psychokinesis, an ability that tops them all.”

Centromere backed Marvin into a wall. He could hardly breathe.

No powers! There was nothing he could do! Nothing at all!

Centromere took hold of the "M" of Marvin's necklace. "Interesting. All of your powers seem to come from these necklaces you wear."

He tried to take the necklace off, but an unseen force kept it held on.

"It's a McMagicspell badge of honor, Centromere. No one can remove it except me," Marvin said, feeling somewhat reassured by that fact.

Centromere let go of the necklace. "The McMagicspell magic  _ will _ be mine. Do you know why? Because of you, that's why. Those friends of yours, their powers can't defeat me. Only yours can. But now... Oh, this is all so convenient!"

Marvin couldn't take it anymore. He ducked away from Centromere and ran for the door. He put his hand on the deformed doorknob and tried to turn it. Impossible! The door was stuck shut!

He was trapped!

"What have you done?!" Marvin said to Centromere, who remained standing in the same spot, far across the room.

"What, did you think that  _ I _ didn't have any powers?" he responded.

He extended his hand, palm up. Flames erupted from it.

"A little something I picked up from the Tunnel of Fire!"

Centromere threw out the fireball in Marvin's direction. Marvin screamed and ducked beneath it. The fireball, which had to have been at least a foot in diameter, hit the cement wall, spread out, and died.

Marvin darted away into a corridor of lockers. Centromere rounded the bend after him, hurling ball after ball of blistering hot flames, some of them only narrowly missing.

Suddenly Marvin and Centromere heard voices outside the door that would refuse to open.

"Oh my gosh! what happened to the doorknob!"

Fists pounded on the door. "Marvin! It's Centromere!"

As if he didn't know.

The voices belonged to his friends. One of them had seen Centromere following Marvin into the locker room. With his guise and normal clothing, it had taken a minute to realize who he was. A minute too late.

Marvin could have cried if he weren't so terrified. This would be the last time he'd ever hear his friends' voices.

The chase was full-on inside the locker room. Centromere and Marvin played cat and mouse, running every which way around the rows of lockers, one trying to kill, the other trying to stay alive. Centromere fired again and again, never seeming to run out of ammunition. The fireballs hit the metal of the lockers and the cement of the cinderblock walls, vanishing each time. The fire didn’t cause them much harm, but the fire  _ could _ harm Marvin, and if this kept up long enough, it would.

Just then, José sublimed through the door.

"Oh, nuts!" he said. "The doorknob is the same in here!"

Centromere stopped firing at Marvin for a moment and threw a fireball at José.

"Aaaaah!”

José threw up his arms to cover his face. The fireball moved right through his sublimed body and died on the wall behind him.

"José!" Marvin shouted. "Get out of here!"

He didn't argue, but sublimed right back out of the locker room.

"Centromere’s throwing huge fireballs at Marvin!" José reported to the others outside. "There's nothing we can do!"

"Can't he just deflect them with his psychokinesis?" Courtney questioned.

"Oh no!" Kirk exclaimed. "He can't! He's got no powers!"

"What?!" the other three said at once.

It was true. There really was nothing they could do. Kirk couldn't even buy time for him, since he'd already used his powers twice in the last hour.

Inside, a fireball came so close that Marvin felt it singe his arm hairs.

"Your magic won't hold your necklaces on when you're dead, now will they?" Centromere snarled as he shot fireballs out of both hands. "Soon all the power of McMagicspell will be mine!"

Suddenly, Marvin heard a tiny little "beep". His watch?

He stopped running and looked at it. It was eight o'clock p.m.

It all happened in a flash. Marvin remembered the words from the incantation:  _ "At this time suspend my power to be returned at the twentieth hour." _

The twentieth hour? When was that? In military time, eight o'clock p.m. was called twenty-hundred hours. That he knew. Could that mean that the twentieth hour was eight o'clock?

Centromere came into view again. As if in slow motion, he hurled one more huge fireball at his stationary target. This would be the one.

Marvin acted at near-lightning speed. The fireball that would most certainly char him beyond recognition couldn't have been more than two feet away when Marvin swung out his arm at it. He felt the power of energetic thrust shoot out of his hand, catch the fireball, and send it off in the other direction. Straight at Centromere.

The fireball struck!

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

Centromere was engulfed in his own flames!

Since it was a new hour now, Kirk's powers had also reset. He put his wrists together and froze time.

The flaming Centromere became a flaming statue.

Marvin ran quickly to the door.

"Stand back!” he called to his friends outside.

Marvin waved his hand hard at the door. A powerful thrust sent splinters flying as the wooden door broke off of its lock and swung open.

The Magic Makers ran in. Courtney and Annette threw their arms around Marvin, relieved that he was alive.

"Whoa," said José when he saw Centromere.

The five of them moved closer to him.

"Everybody look out," Kirk warned. "I'm gonna unfreeze time now.”

Kirk snapped his fingers, and Centromere began screaming again. The flames spread over him completely, until little by little, he disappeared.

All that was left in his place was a skin-colored puddle where he had been standing. His guise.

"The janitor's probably going to wonder what  _ that _ is," Courtney commented.

"Marvin," Kirk began, but he stopped him.

"I know what you're going to say, and don't worry. I am  _ never _ casting that spell again."

As the Magic Makers headed out of the locker room, Annette pointed to the doorknob, still melted, laying on the cement just outside the doorway. "How are we going to explain this?"

" _ We _ aren't going to explain anything," Marvin told her. "This'll all just be a mystery."

"They're going to have to replace that," José said.

"Then they can send the bill to Centromere," Kirk said.

The Magic Makers left.

Less than a minute after they had gone, Marissa appeared in Centromere’s place. The puddle sprang up from the floor and attached itself to her body, re-guising her. All except her left arm, that is.

Marissa didn't know where she was, but as long as she was back in the mortal world, that was all that mattered.


	28. Chapter 28

"Coach Nick?" Marvin said.

"Yes?" he answered.

It was the next day. Marvin had just gotten out of third period P.E. when he went and consulted Coach Nick in his office.

"I've come to tell you that I've decided to quit the team."

It was true. After much thought, Marvin had decided that he simply wasn't cut out for basketball. Who cared what Dante thought? Marvin knew he was a good person. And he knew that if Clair was ever going to like him the same way he liked her, it would be because of that fact.

Nick practically leaped out of his chair.

"You're quitting?! But--but--we need you!"

Marvin was taken aback. Did he really mean that?

Then he remembered what Abey had done.

"You do?" Marvin said, playing dumb. "Okay, then. I guess I'll stay."

Nick breathed relief. "Good. I'll see you at practice today, Marvin."

"Sure."

Marvin skipped practice.

That evening, he sent Abey over to Nick's house once again, this time with new instructions. Within minutes, Marvin received a phone call from Nick saying he was cut from the team.

And that was that.

* * *

A couple of days passed, and another weekend arrived. The Magic Makers all decided to get together at José's house and watch the video that Kirk had bought a couple of weeks ago on the Alvarados' big screen TV.

"What video did you buy, anyway?" Marvin asked.

"You'll see.” Kirk fed it into the VCR and pressed "play".

The title came onto the screen:  _ The Wizard of Oz _ .

"Hey, cool," Courtney said. "I love this movie.”

"You know," Kirk said as they watched, "I just now had a thought: The characters in this movie are a lot like us. Annette is Dorothy, I'm the Scarecrow, Marvin's the Tin Man, and José is the Lion.”

“So then you're the one who doesn't have a brain?” Courtney said. She winked at Annette.

"And I’m cowardly?" José said. "Gee, thanks."

"Well then who's Courtney?" Annette asked.

"I'm not sure. She's either the Wicked Witch or the dog, Toto."

Kirk couldn't hold back his smile once he'd said it.

"That's it." Courtney grinned and gave Kirk a whack with a sofa pillow. He fled into the kitchen and Courtney chased him, whacking him again and again. They ran around the house like this while the others laughed at them, and Kirk kept saying, "No! No! I don't want to kiss you! Don't make me!"

Being a Magic Maker got scary at times. But more captivating than the fear was the intrigue, the mystery. Because at that point, right there, right then, none of them had any idea what incredible, insane thing would happen next.

Only time would tell.


End file.
